Articles about Agriculture
Filter by topic
McLean County’s first corn farmers also mound builders
By Bill Kemp. Published on April 16, 2017.
It’s been nearly 200 years since the first Euro-Americans began settling would become McLean County. Those prairie pioneers of the 1820...
Silos sentinels of Corn Belt since late 19th century
By Bill Kemp. Published on March 11, 2018.
Farm silos, an iconic symbol of the Corn Belt, have long flummoxed city and suburban folk. Frustrated parents clueless as to the purpos...
Local tractor company never gained traction
By Bill Kemp. Published on June 23, 2019.
“More from the soil, with less toil” was the promise of the Illinois Tractor Co., which for a few short years sold its Bloomington-made...
Portable Elevator plant closed in 1987
By Bill Kemp. Published on August 25, 2019.
In the spring of 2018, Canadian agricultural equipment manufacturer Brandt Industries began assembling grain augers and belt conveyors ...
Picture postcard speaks to power of donations
By Bill Kemp. Published on January 10, 2021.
As a not-for-profit institution, the McLean County Museum of History relies to a considerable extent on the generosity of the public to...
Donated letter window into family tragedy
By Bill Kemp. Published on November 7, 2021.
Death came for John W. Puett on the afternoon of Jan. 12, 1917. The Bloomington grain dealer was at his Twin Grove elevator, located so...