Antioch restoring ghost signs - historic paintings of the past
CHICAGO (CBS) -– Antioch in the far north suburbs is unveiling some historic paintings of the past.
And you could say it's a ghostly sight but not in the way you might think.
"Antioch is a charming little town and we're all working really hard to maintain its integrity."
Local historian Ainsley Wonderling is talking about a new project along the main street in the far north suburb.
It's called Ghosted - an initiative to refresh existing signs and create new ones inspired by the past.
A ghost sign is an old hand-painted ad preserved on a building.
"So, we get out all the old pictures -- got a lot of them in our book. We presented quite a few ideas to the board. And they widdled down to the ones we wanted and here they are fabulous."
The first commissioned sign to go up and the one getting the most attention is the reeves drug store sign - a modified version with the word "drugs" removed to reflect modern times.
"Many people remember Mr. Reeves. He gave ice cream cones out to all the kids every Monday. and they would learn to say please and thank you. And a lot of people are still alive that remember that," Wonderling said.
"Now, I walk around, and I hope we can put more of these up over time."
Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner tells us five signs are up so far - some representing storefronts from the 20th century.
"This now is a candy shop, an ice cream store, and here's an example of one of the signs -- not named after me, unfortunately, but this was a dairy shop that was here"
Gartner says a lot of people who grew up here remain.
"I think it's nice for those residents to bring back nostalgia from when they were kids growing up and I think it's also nice for the town to learn about the history of what these buildings were at one point," he said.
Eventually, QR codes will go up next to the signs sending you to links with more historical references and old photos.
Friday's dedication ceremony for the ghosts signs is at 901 main street in Antioch. It starts at 10:30.
