January 12th, 2017

McHistory: 33 years on the streetcar

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard perio...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 11th, 2017

Mystery Snow Scene - Mystery Solved!

UPDATE: This scene looks north where Clinton St. approaches Oakland Ave, then jogs left to continue north. The house at the end of the street is gone: it was taken down when the intersection was reconfigured. The big house on the right, however, with smoke coming out of the chimney, is still ther...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 10th, 2017

Snowbound Illinois Central Northeast of Fletcher, February 1908

A heavy snowfall in February 1908 put a halt to this steam locomotive somewhere between Merna and Fletcher, two tiny communities in eastern McLean County along the Illinois Central Railroad’s “Bloomer Line.”And you think digging out your driveway is hard work!...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 9th, 2017

Mobile Home Living, Bloomington Catherine Heineman, January 1953

By 1953, there were at least 10 mobile home parks with a combined 165 “trailers” in the Twin Cities. Here’s Catherine Heineman, a resident of what’s known today as Greenwood Mobile Home Court, in her kitchen, sometime in early 1953. Greenwood is located off Veterans Parkway on the south end of Bl...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 8th, 2017

"Gridley High, January 1953 County Hoops Champs"

Here’s Gridley High School Coach Clarence “Merk” Kyger readying his varsity squad for the 1953 McLean County Basketball Tournament, which for many years was the biggest event on the local sports calendar.Gridley would go on to defeat Octavia (now known as Ridgeview) 50-45 in the Jan. 23, 1953 tit...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 7th, 2017

My Store, Bloomington, undated 100 block of South Center Street

The name My Store first appears in the 1891 Bloomington city directory, with Oscar Mandel and brother-in-law John S. Bachrach selling general merchandise at 112-120 S. Center St., and clothing across the street at 109 Center. In 1912, the two businessmen embarked on an ambitious expansion plan, e...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 6th, 2017

Pothole Season Laesch Dairy Truck, January 1965

Winter is hard on Twin City streets, with local residents always on the lookout for kidney-jarring, hubcap-rattling potholes. Here’s a Laesch Dairy driver in the first week of January 1965 “pondering his puddly predicament.”Can anyone identify this driver for us? Who remembers Laesch Dairy?...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 5th, 2017

Holiday season comes to an end January 4, 1965

Is there anything sadder than a dry and tindery Christmas tree, sans ornaments and lights, unceremoniously dumped curbside come early January? That’s a sure sign the holiday season is over. Here’s Patricia Miller, 1402 Clinton Blvd. in Bloomington, disposing of her family tree back in early 1965....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 4th, 2017

First Baby of the New Year January 1, 1965 Edition

Shirley Agner (left) holds her as-yet unnamed newborn son, who arrived on the scene at 12:37 a.m., Jan. 1, 1965, fully five minutes ahead of Brian Keith Oesch, who is being held by his mother Judy Oesch (right).The Agners were from Fairbury, in Livingston County, while the Oesch family lived on W...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 3rd, 2017

Snow-shrouded Bloomington, undated 200 Block E. Jefferson St., north side

None of these buildings are standing today. This is all surface parking for Second Presbyterian Church and State Farm Insurance. The church on the right is old St. Matthews Episcopal. The Irvin Theater would be built on this block in 1915, but it too was eventually torn down....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

January 2nd, 2017

Bloomington’s long-gone post office Circa 1900

This building, located at the northwest corner of Jefferson and East streets in downtown Bloomington, served as the city’s post office from 1896 to 1932 (today, this lot is occupied by the Auto Hotel). Many longtime residents will remember the successor post office on the 400 block of North East ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 31st, 2016

Happy New Year!

This New Year’s Day card, circa. 1914, comes from the Museum’s Greeting Card Collection. Our board of directors, staff, volunteers, and many supporters wish you and yours a happy New Year with the hope for many blessings to come.And may we all have someone warm to hold and a bottle of chilled cha...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 31st, 2016

New Year’s Eve 1948 In with the new, out with the old …

The Pantagraph ran this staged photograph of Father Time and Baby New Year on the last day of 1948. Unfortunately, we don’t know the name of either the unhappy toddler (who would be about 70 years old today!) or the elderly gentlemen. If you can help us out, we’d love to hear from you...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 30th, 2016

Kadgihn’s News and Cigar Store Downtown Bloomington, c. 1914

Herman Kadgihn (pictured here) ran a news and cigar shop out of this storefront, 607 ½ N. Main St., from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s. Note the spittoon at Kadgihn’s feet!...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 29th, 2016

Withers Public Library Bookmobile, undated

The Bloomington Public Library bookmobile program goes all the way back to 1930. Seen here is an early photo of the Withers Library (BPL’s original name) “bookwagon” parked in front of Bent Elementary School....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 28th, 2016

Inaugural Bloomington Flight Ozark Air Lines, Nov. 6, 1950

The holiday season often means hectic times for those traveling by air. Commercial air service to Bloomington began on Nov. 6, 1950 with Ozark’s first flight into Bloomington Municipal Airport (now called Central Illinois Regional Airport). Local officials were guests on the inaugural flight.Ozar...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 26th, 2016

Holiday Hoops Pontiac, Dec. 30, 1948

The Pontiac Holiday Tournament is the nation’s oldest such Christmastime classic, dating as it does way back to 1926. Seen here are University High School’s Jim Barnes (#12) and Ted Smith (#8) tied up with two Lyons Township (La Grange, IL) High School cagers. Lyons beat U-High 52-48, and then we...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 25th, 2016

Merry Christmas!

The Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, and members of the McLean County Museum of History hope you are able to “cast dull care away” on this Christmas Day. Oh, and whatever Santa’s drinking here—we want some!...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 24th, 2016

Santa in Action, 1953

This rare “action shot” of Santa himself was taken in Bloomington in 1953. “Clausologists” (those who study all things Santa) tell us that the big guy is demonstrating here how he not only comes down a chimney “with a bound” (per “Twas the Night Before Christmas”), but that he has now learned how...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 23rd, 2016

Santa on Parade December 1948

a crowd surrounds santa, who is on a wagon being pulled by 4 horses in Downtown Bloomington
On December 5, 1948, Santa arrived in Bloomington via the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad. From the west side passenger station he traveled east down Washington Street to the Courthouse Square. Shown here is a section of the 1100 block of West Washington Street. Today, the one-story building rig...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 22nd, 2016

Mississippi Orphans Go Sledding Highland Park, Bloomington, 1963

Pastor J.H. Yohe of First Pentecostal Church of Bloomington gives a sled a push at Highland Park Golf Course a day or two before Christmas 1963. The boys were part of a 40-orphan contingent from Tupelo, Mississippi treated by Yohe and his church to a ten-day vacation in Bloomington homes....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 21st, 2016

Christmas 1953

On December 25, 1953, The Pantagraph ran a series of Christmas Day photographs such as this one. Yet these two toddlers were not identified. If you think you know either one (though they’d be in their mid-60s today!) let us know....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 20th, 2016

Toy, toys, and more toys Christmastime 1953

This week we’ve posted several photographs from a set showing downtown Bloomington holiday shoppers in mid-December 1953. As with the previous photo, we do not know the name of this store or anyone shown here. Who out there can help us with identifications?...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 19th, 2016

Holiday Shopping Downtown Bloomington, December 1953

Seen here are shoppers out and about downtown Bloomington in mid-December 1953. This location, as well as the folks shown here, are unidentified. Can anyone help us out?...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 19th, 2016

McHistory: Painter and Scoundrel

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard periodica...
2 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 15th, 2016

December Sleigh Ride, 1963

These young women appear to be having the time of their lives. Unfortunately, we do not known the who, what, where, and why of this fabulous photo. Can anyone help us out?...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 14th, 2016

Santa No Replacement for Mama Downtown Bloomington, December 4, 1948

a crowd surrounds santa, who is on a wagon being pulled by 4 horses in Downtown Bloomington
Santa arrived by train to Bloomington on December 4, 1948, and spent much of the day greeting children in his specially erected hut on the McLean County Courthouse Square. Sometime during the day this unidentified little girl became separated from her mother, and not even dear old Santa could cal...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 13th, 2016

Beats shoveling … Normal, Dec. 22, 1953

Three inches of snow the morning of Dec. 22, 1953, had Don Locke of Bryan’s Standard Service Station, 207 S. Main St., Normal, out plowing the drive. Bryan’s was located right next to Hull’s Drive In. Anybody remember either business?Today, this site is occupied by Illinois State University’s Pro...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 12th, 2016

Livingston’s Christmas Rush 1953

Located on the south side of the Courthouse Square (now Museum Square), Livingston’s was one of several gone-but-not-forgotten locally owned department stores. We know this wonderful photo was taken in mid-December 1953, but those shown are not identified. Can anyone help us?...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp

December 11th, 2016

Christmas Seals, 1937

Richard Young, a Bloomington High School student, is seen here showing an enlarged reproduction of his 1937 Christmas Seal design. That holiday season the McLean County Tuberculosis Association mailed off more than 10,000 letters with Christmas Seals in the hopes of raising $3,700 to fight the de...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp