In Des Plaines, Illinois, a full-scale replica preserved the site where Ray Kroc opened his 1955 restaurant and began the franchising venture that grew into McDonald’s Corporation. Though not the chain’s first location, the restaurant became the symbolic birthplace of the modern company because it launched Kroc’s expansion of the brand. The original building, adapted for a colder climate, stood until 1984, and a replica museum opened in 1985 with period equipment, signage, and displays about the company’s early history. Repeated flooding led to the replica’s demolition in 2018, but the site and artifacts across the street remain part of McDonald’s public history.