200 North Main St | Bloomington, Illinois | 309-827-0428
200 North Main St | Bloomington, Illinois | 309-827-0428
These spiffy letter carriers pose in front of the pre-1932 downtown Bloomington post office, which was located at the northwest corner of East and Jefferson streets.
This Italianate-style hotel was Bloomington’s finest for many years. Originally known as the Ashley House, it opened sometime around 1860. It later became the Windsor Hotel. It was lost in the Great Bloomington Fire of 1900.
This viaduct (or “subway,” as they were once called) was built to enable Bloomington & Normal Railway Co. streetcars to safely cross the Chicago & Alton Railroad mainline in Normal. This viaduct remains open today and is used by automobiles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
In 1860, hearing impaired photographer Addison Pancake (1844-1900) operated a studio in downtown Bloomington. He was a graduate of what’s today known as the Illinois School for the Deaf and billed himself as a “deaf mute photographer.”
Seen here is the old Mennonite Church of Normal when it was located on South University Street. This photo is undated, but the fact that University Street is unpaved tells us it goes back a few years!