Jo Daviess County

Location of Jo Davies County in Illinois.
Location of Jo Davies County in Illinois.
From its opening in 1905, O.M. Bishop called his store "The Busy Big Store," advertising five departments (clothing, shoes, groceries, variety, and dishes) under one roof. On the second floor, the biggest theater in the county at its opening, the Lyric Theater, showed movies from 1916-1931. This space also served as a community meeting house where dances, suppers, vaudeville shows, graduations, and even roller skating took place. For more than a century (1905-2007), Bishop's Busy Big Store was the focus for both business and social events on the main street of Elizabeth, Illinois, with this solid brass, hand-cranked National Cash Register always on prominent display.