History

In 1928, Joseph J. Henderson and brother-in-law, Guy Lund, started a successful residential construction company, Henderson & Lund. All was going well until the Great Depression ground construction to a halt. The business did survive and, once the Depression eased, work was again plentiful until World War II. Guy Lund sold his share of the company to Joe for $369 and went to work for a defense contractor.

Following WWII the company, now named Joseph J. Henderson General Contractor, began adding more commercial work, and Don Henderson joined the company. Throughout the 1950’s JJH remained primarily a residential contractor and focused on building relationships to spur growth. In 1956 the company name was changed to Joseph J. Henderson & Son General Contractor.

In 1971, Don took over as president and JJH began building a significant amount of commercial work, including the first of many Abbott Laboratories jobs and its first million-dollar contract, Citizens National Bank in Waukegan.

In the 1980’s the third generation of Henderson’s joined JJH, Michael in 1981 and David in 1988. During that time JJH started undertaking water and wastewater treatment plant work which continues to be a mainstay for the company today.

Don retired in 1994, Mike took over as president, and David became vice president.

In 2005, Mike retired and David was promoted to president.

No one had more of an impact on the growth, stability, or philosophy of JJH than Don Henderson. His vision and commitment to quality, fairness, honesty, and customer satisfaction are what laid the foundation for the company’s prosperity. Don had successfully transformed a modest, residential construction company into one of the largest, commercial general contractors in Lake County.

One of JJH’s greatest assets is its ability to handle the growth of the company and still maintain the company’s value system: Striving to insure that its employees treat everyone with the same commitment of fairness, honesty and respect one would expect in a close-knit family. Many positive client letters and numerous awards attest to the fact that customer service and customer satisfaction have always been a hallmark of JJH.

“Moving forward we will continue to improve our skills and performance and uphold the principles that JJH was founded on: Quality, Fairness, Honesty, and Excellent Customer Service.”
~ David A. Henderson, President



History of JJH’s Historic Main Office Building

In 1964, Don Henderson purchased two vacant, adjacent buildings on Grand Avenue in Gurnee and combined them into one. The buildings date back to the late 1800’s, having been a feed & seed store, a general store, post office, sheet metal company and cleaning company. After some remodeling, JJH moved into the building in1965. In 1972, a second story was added over the office area.