Historic Photos

Photo of the Week, 39: Move Along Folks . . . Nothing to See Here

October 31st, 2013

In early September 1935, the Smoke House, a cigar and tobacco shop at 216 West Washington Street, was one of several local establishments raided by the Bloomington Police Department. Authorities suspected that the Smoke House was home to an illegal gambling operation. Seen here is a lively crowd gathered to watch police officers remove alleged gambling and horse race betting paraphernalia from the business. This stretch of the 200 block of West Washington Street, from the Peoples Bank building (now Commerce Bank) west to Madison Street, was razed in the mid-1960s to make way for a drive-through banking facility

Bill Kemp

Librarian

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