On the Square Blog
June 25th, 2017
Wilder Field, IWU July 1938
Illinois Wesleyan University's Wilder Field was built with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor and materials, the largest of the Depression-era New Deal federal work projects. The football complex is now known as Wilder Field at Tucci Stadium....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 23rd, 2017
ISSCS Festival August 1950
The Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School annual festival of 1950 included pressure cooking demonstrations, as well as displays of preserved fruits and floral arrangements. We don’t know the names of any of these “homers” (as ISSCS kids were called), but we do know that the judges wer...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 22nd, 2017
Irvin Theater, Bloomington Circa 1958
The Irvin was the Twin City’s premier movie house for much of the 20th century. Located on the 200 block of East Jefferson Street, it opened in 1915, closed in 1982, and was torn down in 1987. Check out the Museum’s most recent “Page from Our Past” feature in the Sunday Pantagraph which tells the...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 21st, 2017
Ms. Stanberry and Queenie July 21, 1938
Gretchen Stanberry, a senior in the school of music at MacMurray Women’s College in Jacksonville, was the guest speaker before the Bloomington Rotary Club in a July 1938 program at the Illinois Hotel. Ms. Stanberry is seen here with her German shepherd seeing eye dog Queenie....
1 mins read by Torii Moré
June 20th, 2017
Three hospitals; three styles of caps June 1958
The distinctive caps worn by graduate nurses at the three Bloomington-Normal hospitals were compared and contrasted during the local Student Nurses Association meeting in June 1958. Phyllis Fehr (left) of Danvers wears a Mennonite Hospital cap; Lois Welch (center) of Gridley has one from Brokaw H...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 19th, 2017
I beg to differ … Waterloo v. Bloomers, July 6, 1938
From 1901 to 1939, Bloomington was home to the Bloomers of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. Here’s Len Backer, Waterloo Red Hawks skipper, protesting a call at long-gone Fans Field, the Bloomers home park. That’s Waterloo backstop Clyde Chell on the right. The Red Hawks beat the Bloomers this ni...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 18th, 2017
Courteous Bicyclist June 1951
In late June 1951, the Junior Chamber of Commerce sponsored a “Traffic Courtesy Week” in Bloomington-Normal. The event included giving away $5 to those who exhibited courteous behavior to fellow motorists and pedestrians. Here’s Gene Paxton of Paxton Typewriter Co. talking to 13-year-old Ronnie R...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 16th, 2017
On Parade Elementary Rhythm Band, July 1951
On Tuesday we posted another photograph featuring this neighborhood music class. These children, who were between the ages of thee and six, were led by music teacher Kay Baylor. Presumably, that’s Ms. Baylor with the accordion. We don’t know where this photograph was taken, but we do know Baylor ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 15th, 2017
ISNU Tour of Europe June 1951
A group from Illinois State Normal University readies for their two-month tour of the British Isles and the European continent. They were led by Dr. Arthur W. Watterson (far right), who was just named acting head of the Department of Geology and Geography. Watterson Towers is the namesake of Dr. ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 14th, 2017
Paving, 400 block North Main Street June 1938
Workmen with local contractor Berenz & Son lay asphalt down the 400 block of North Main Street in Bloomington. Today, the Jaeger’s Candy Shop storefront is occupied by Gigi Bottega. The Miller Music storefront is now Bobzbay....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 13th, 2017
“A-One, and a-Two, and a-Three …” Elementary Rhythm Band, July 1951
Tammi Orendorff conducts Kay Baylor’s elementary rhythm band during the summer of 1951. Baylor, who taught piano and music theory from her home, 407 S. Linden St., Normal, organized this “rhythm band” for local children between the ages of three and six. Instruments included castanets, cymbals, b...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 12th, 2017
4-H Lamb Show June 27, 1951
In late June 1951, the McLean County 4-H market lamb show was held at the Producers Stock Yards, located at East LaFayette Street and the Illinois Central Railroad on the south end of Bloomington. Here’s Roger Risser of Danvers (left) showing off his “best pen of three.” That’s Wayne Mohr on the ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 11th, 2017
Barbershoppers’ summer party June 26, 1951
In late June 1951, local barbershoppers held a get-together at Phil Hooton’s residence, 3 Country Club Place. Seen here are winners of the impromptu quartet contest. Clockwise from left: Dick Dennie, tenor; Fred Gehrt, baritone; J.H. Bellamy, bass; and Mac Convis, lead....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 11th, 2017
0 mins read by Torii Moré
June 10th, 2017
Mackinaw River swimmin’ hole July 1941
A few hundred yards west of the old Mackinaw River bridge, about one mile west of Lexington, was one of the lovelier swimming holes in all McLean County. Seen here during the summer of 1941 are Christine Kinslow (left) and Christine Underwood, both of Lexington. The boy in the background with his...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 9th, 2017
Miller Park Beach July 1941
For decades Miller Park beach was the most popular spots in the Twin Cities to cool off during the summer months. If you can identify any or all of these three swimmers, let us know! Miller Park beach closed for good in 2002.Who remembers spending time at this beach?...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 8th, 2017
The Iceman Cometh … but for how long? June 1957
Once a common sight in windows throughout the Twin Cities and beyond, ice carts were becoming an increasingly rare sight by 1957. What were they? Well, before the widespread use of mechanical refrigeration, customers had ice delivered to their homes. These cards were placed in windows so delivery...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 7th, 2017
Davis Lodge, Under Construction Lake Bloomington, April 1932
Since its formal opening on June 29, 1932, the Davis Lodge has hosted innumerable wedding receptions, family reunions, public meetings, and the like. It was rebuilt in 2001-2002. For more on this story, check out the most recent installment of the Museum’s “Page from Our Past” column in the Sunda...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 2nd, 2017
Miller Park Zoo’s newest arrival June 1964
Miller Park’s Ed Denniston welcomes the zoo’s new arrival in early June 1964. This little mule’s parents were a Shetland pony mare and a Sicilian donkey, which were boarded at Davis U. Merwin’s rural home near Downs. Merwin, second-in-command at The Pantagraph, was also president of the Miller Pa...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 1st, 2017
Julia LeBeau and the Melodicans June 1964
Bloomington music teacher Julia LeBeau (left), Faye Scheets (center), and Helen Tepe formed a melodica trio back in 1964. LeBeau was best known for her tin can xylophone, which is now in the Museum’s object collection. In 1988, an 85-year-old LeBeau played this one-of-a-kind xylophone on “The Ton...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 1st, 2017
Young Men's Club Funds Scholarships for Eight Campers
(Pictured L-R: John William Yoder, Hannah Johnson, McLean County Museum of History, Frank Hoffman, President YMC. Photo Credit: Robert E. Handley YMC)Shout out to the Young Men’s Club! On Tuesday, May 30 the YMC, through its Youth Opportunities Foundation, presented the Museum’s Education Program...
3 mins read by Hannah Johnson
May 30th, 2017
LeRoy High’s Ron Crosby Teacher of Year, May 1964
At the end of the 1964 school year, Leroy High School students selected biology teacher and basketball coach Ron Crosby (left) as “Teacher of the Year.” Crosby is seen here looking over diplomas with William Lewis, LeRoy’s principal....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 29th, 2017
Memorial Day 1964 Park Hill Cemetery, Bloomington
The Twin Cities and surrounding communities have honored their war dead since the first local Decoration Day was organized after the Civil War. This Memorial Day 1964 scene shows Army Lt. Bernard Borson, chaplain at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, speaking at the soldiers’ monument at Park Hill Cemet...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 28th, 2017
Memorial Day 1964 Evergreen Memorial Cemetery
The Bloomington High School marching band passes through the gates of Evergreen Memorial Cemetery on Bloomington’s south side for a Memorial Day program. “Our nation, our young men of necessity, play a role in the tragic drama now a part of current world events on this Memorial Day,” Edward B. Ak...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 26th, 2017
Memorial Day 1936 Downtown Bloomington
The McLean County Legion Drum Corps, debuting their new uniforms, march south down Main Street on Saturday, May 30, 1936, during Bloomington’s annual Memorial Day parade....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 25th, 2017
Excuse me, comin’ through May 1968
On May 22, 1968, workers removed a roof off a gas station being dismantled at the corner of Lee and Washington streets on the west end of downtown Bloomington. The roof was being moved to Locust Street where it would be placed atop another gas station. If we’re not mistaken, this roof can be seen...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 24th, 2017
Defense Work at Firestone May 1968
Janet Froemming, receptionist at the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. (now Bridgestone Tires) plant in Normal, gets a close look at a tire produced for the U.S. Army’s latest generation amphibious vehicle known as the LARC (Lighter, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo). These LARC tires were first shipped ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 23rd, 2017
Book Lover in Seventh Heaven May 1968
Retired schoolteacher Elsa Schilling found a quiet corner of Withers Public Library hoping to find a few keepers during the 10-cent book sale, held May 25, 1968.With the opening of the present-day Bloomington Public Library on East Olive Street, this old library was torn down in 1978. Who has spe...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 22nd, 2017
Waiting for the wrecking ball, 1971 200 block South Main Street
These buildings, located on the west side of the 200 South Main Street, were demolished in the early 1970s to make way for the McLean County Law and Justice Center complex. Who remembers stopping at this National Liquors storefront or having a bite to eat at Baker’s Hamburger Stand?...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 20th, 2017
Memorial Day tradition Poppy Sales, May 1938
The local Veterans of Foreign Wars John H. Kraus post prepares for its 17th annual poppy sale in this late May 1938 photograph. Left to right: Fred E. Crone, post commander; Marie Cooper, Anderson-Fike auxiliary president; Emmet Koos and Catherine Lawrence, poppy committee members; Ruth McReynold...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp