The World's First Dairy Queen is Just Three Hours from Dubuque

Dairy Queen is a nationally known brand, but it's also an unmistakable Tri-States staple. Sure, I ate both ice cream and chicken tenders at Dairy Queen before moving to Dubuque, but I think I ate there more than I ever did in my entire life less than a year after moving to the area.

Little did I (and probably you) know that the first ever Dairy Queen location was not only about three hours from Dubuque, but it was also within a stone's throw from where I grew up, just outside the Chicagoland area.

The very first Dairy Queen location sits at 501 North Chicago Street in Joliet, IL. An unassuming two-story brick building with a wide windowfront in the heart of downtown Joliet was once home to a revolutionary concept for ice cream. In 2023, the building was acquired by the Joliet Area Historical Museum.

Per Patch.com, the Joliet museum's executive director Greg Peerbolte said that many people aren't even aware that DQ's origins start in Joliet, IL. The building housed the original Dairy Queen from June 22, 1940. An exact closure date has not been determined.

A city directory revealed that the property was a lawnmower store starting around 1954/1955, but no concrete info on when the Dairy Queen closed has been unearthed.

Photo Credit: Average Me, YouTube

The building has housed numerous businesses over the decades, including a motorcycle dealership, a plumbing/heating company, and an insurance agency humorously known as "Paisano Auto Insurance" (see embedded video below). The second story has long been apartments, which are still occupied today.

Dairy Queen's history can't be written without the Chicago suburbs. It was Sherb Noble of Kankakee, IL who opened the original DQ in 1940. He had a desire to sell soft-serve ice cream and expand the franchise all over the country, as noted by Peerbolte to Patch.com.

The Joliet Area Historical Museum has signed a lease with the building's current owner to use the property for the next several years, per Patch.com:

This will be a phased project because we want to be using their intellectual property with their permission and telling the story properly. Sherb [Noble] was an early practitioner, he did a taste test in 1938 in Kankakee that drew over 1,000 people - Joliet Area Historical Museum Executive Director Greg Peerbolte, per Patch.com

As of 2023, a walk-up experience was to be unveiled the following year, but I can't find any confirmation of its existence at this time. Peerbolte expressed interest in people taking photo-ops with the location, since it's already positioned along America's historic Route 66.