On the Square Blog
October 13th, 2015
The Tilbury Flash on display at Central Illinois Regional Airport
The McLean County Museum of History’s largest artifact, the Tilbury Flash racing plane, has officially arrived at the Central Illinois Regional Airport terminal.Removed from display at the Museum to make way for the new Cruisin’ with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center, the Tilbury Flash has been in st...
4 mins read by Beth Whisman
October 9th, 2015
Prairie Birds to the Rescue! Great Chicago Fire, October 8-9, 1871
As the Great Chicago Fire raged out of control the night and early morning of October 8-9, 1871, Mayor Roswell B. Mason made a desperate plea over the telegraph wires for additional firefighters and equipment. Those heeding the call included members of Bloomington’s Prairie Bird engine company, t...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 8th, 2015
High School ‘Museum’ Bellflower, September 1950
Bellflower Township High School in the southeastern corner of McLean County once boasted a fine collection of local history and natural history objects. This “museum” consisted of a set of display cases and wall exhibits featuring hundreds of items, including Native American relics, an American b...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 6th, 2015
Wesleyan Homecoming, October 1958 Titans Rough Up the Bluejays
Fifty-seven years ago, Saturday, October 25, 1958, Wesleyan easily dispatched visiting Elmhurst College 47-7 in the homecoming football game. Seen here are two photographs from the 1958 homecoming parade in downtown Bloomington, held the morning of the Elmhurst game. In the first photo the Sigma ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 2nd, 2015
An apple (or bushel) a day … Lilly Orchard, October 1950
In the first half of the 20th century Lilly Orchard, located some sixteen miles west of the Twin Cities, was one of the more popular area destinations during the crisp fall days of September and October. Seen in this early October 1950 photograph are Orin White, Lilly Orchard manager, and two you...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 1st, 2015
Mother Road Turns Deadly October 28, 1949
John M. Newman of Pittsfield, IL, was killed on October 28, 1949, when his Pacific Intermountain Express truck sideswiped an automobile parked along Route 66 south of Bloomington. The owner of the parked vehicle, 20-year-old Donald Slaughter of Bloomington, was unharmed in the tragic accident. Sl...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 28th, 2015
Corn Belt Harvest September 1939
In the 76 years since these photographs were taken the Corn Belt countryside has undergone an absolute transformation when it comes to matters of mechanization, depopulation, storage, hybridization, the end of diversification, and genetics, among many other profound changes.The first photo shows ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 27th, 2015
Farm Progress Show Comes to McLean County September 1994
It was arguably the single largest event ever staged in McLean County history. Despite the cancellation of the first day due to muddy field conditions, the 1994 Farm Progress Show attracted an estimated 150,000 folks to the G.J. Mecherle Trust Farm off Illinois Route 9 several miles east of Bloom...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 26th, 2015
McLean Harvest Festival September 26, 1952
The Village of McLean in the southwestern corner of McLean County used to stage an annual Harvest Festival. Seen here is the McLean Supper Club float, one of some 30 that paraded through the village that lovely autumn day 63 years ago. Do you recognize anyone?...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 25th, 2015
Homecoming 1949 Bloomington High School
Seen here are two photographs of Bloomington’s 1949 homecoming festivities. The photo on the left shows BHS homecoming queen Diane Taylor (center) with her attendants (right to left) Marilyn Koerner, Audrey Sullivan, Jo Linneman, and Marjorie Garber. The photo on the right shows the October 28 pa...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 24th, 2015
Photo of the Week: Dolls On Parade O’Neil Park, July 1939
The once-annual O’Neil Park doll parade on Bloomington’s west side prepares to get underway, Friday, July 28, 1936. The parade was led by “Pal,” a rather uncooperative canine (on the right) who delayed the procession until he could be brought into line....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 21st, 2015
Angelic Coeds, September 27, 1940 Dedication of the Van Leer Chime Tower
Bill Kemp's “Page from Our Past” column in the Pantagraph (linked below) detailed the history of the chime tower on the Broadview Mansion estate in south Normal. The September 27, 1940 dedication ceremony included theatrical elements, such as Illinois Wesleyan University students Dorothy Mae...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 21st, 2015
Intern Reflection: Jim Gass
The Museum may be a repository for McLean County’s history, but it’s hardly the only place where you can observe the past. The Museum is for studying and analyzing history; to see where it came from, one has to search it out. Walking through Downtown Bloomington on foot lets you see buildings tha...
4 mins read by Jim Gass
September 19th, 2015
Bloomington Centennial ‘Young Pioneers’ Parade, September 19, 1950
The City of Bloomington celebrated its centennial over a seven-day extravaganza, September 17-23, 1950 (though the kickoff dance held September 15 somehow didn’t count, if one goes by the banner pictured here). Anyway, festivities included a “Young Pioneers” parade through downtown Bloomington on...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 17th, 2015
Out with the Old . . . Keiser-Van Leer Expansion, 1936
Seen here is the northeast corner of East and Market streets in downtown Bloomington, late 1935 or early 1936. Keiser-Van Leer Co., a mechanical contractor and hardware dealer, was preparing to demolish the two-story buildings in the foreground (both the wood frame and brick structures) to make w...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 15th, 2015
Bloomington Centennial 65 Years Ago this Week!
On September 15, 1950, Bloomington kicked off its centennial celebration with a “Queen’s Ball” at what is now called the Center for Performing Arts. Although Bloomington was established and settled as early as 1831, it wasn’t officially incorporated until 1850, hence the city’s 100th birthday bas...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 10th, 2015
The Times They Have Changed! Town of Normal, 1966
This view of the Town of Normal and Illinois State University, taken in 1966 from either Hewett or Manchester halls, two recently opened high-rise dormitories, looks west. Visible in the distance are Hancock Stadium and the Tri-Towers residential complex (Haynie, Wilkins, and Wright halls)....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 9th, 2015
Old Main Comes Down September 9, 1958
On September 9, 1958, a one-ton wrecking ball made quick work of Illinois State University’s first campus building, affectionately known as “Old Main.” The last wall toppled at 4:33 p.m. that late afternoon, marking the end of a building that first opened in 1861.Today, a memorial featuring the b...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 7th, 2015
Labor Day Parade Bloomington, 1985
“Buy American—Save the USA” was the theme for the September 2, 1985, Labor Day parade. Bloomington first played host to a such a parade in 1891, and since the 1970s it’s been an annual tradition....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 4th, 2015
Fall Means College Football ISNU ‘Teachers,’ 1907
Back in 1907, the Illinois State Normal University Teachers (the nickname would be changed to “Red Birds” in 1923 and then “Redbirds” as one word about a decade later) finished the season undefeated against college-level competition—9 wins and 0 losses. The Teachers earned victories over Wesleyan...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 4th, 2015
Labor Day in Bloomington Circa 1920
Bloomington’s first Labor Day parade was held on September 7, 1891, three years before the day became a national holiday. This parade float, dating to sometime around 1920, is the handiwork of the International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths and Helpers Local 79. This local represented blacksmiths at...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 3rd, 2015
‘Modernistic’ Main Street July 1939
This Standard Oil Co. service station, 1507 South Main Street, Bloomington, opened on July 29, 1939. The modernistic design sparkled with its glazed brick and terra cotta exterior and a color scheme of cream, blue, and red. Denver Aldridge leased the station from Standard Oil and served as manage...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
September 2nd, 2015
‘Old School’ Public Transportation Twin City Streetcars Date to 1867
The week of September 2, 2015 marked 148th anniversary of the first official run of the Bloomington-Normal streetcar system. It was on September 6, 1867, that the Bloomington & Normal Horse Railway inaugurated its first line, which connected Downtown Bloomington with Uptown Normal. As implied...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
August 27th, 2015
All the World’s a Stage Community Players, December 1953
Community Players Theatre has been a local cultural treasure since its first staged production way back in 1923. Thirty-three years later, on December 3-4, 1956, the volunteer theater company staged the bewitching romantic comedy “Bell, Book and Candle.” The cast (see accompanying photograph) fea...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
August 20th, 2015
Photo of the Week, 130: Dogs of War, 1946 Bella and Her Two Surprises
U.S. Army veteran Dwight Pierceall of Normal received quite a shock on June 6, 1946, when he opened a crate sent from Europe. Inside was Bella, a canine refugee from war-torn Europe. That wasn’t the surprise though, as Pfc. Pierceall had received the part Airedale about a year earlier when he was...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
August 13th, 2015
Reserve Champions Illinois State Fair, August 17, 1949
McLean County 4-H youth have an enviable record when it comes to Illinois State Fair showings. Back on August 17, 1949, for instance, McLean County boasted three reserve champions. Seen here (left to right) at the fairgrounds in Springfield are Gordon Ropp of Normal, winner in the Jersey class; W...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
August 13th, 2015
Photo of the Week, 129: Reserve Champions Illinois State Fair, August 17, 1949
The Illinois State Fair gets underway today in Springfield and runs through Sunday, August 23. McLean County 4-H youth have an enviable record when it comes to Illinois State Fair showings. Back on August 17, 1949, for instance, McLean County boasted three reserve champions. Seen here (left to ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
August 12th, 2015
Collection Highlight: Ross Vinson, Funk Bro. Seed Company Photographer
Much of my time as Registrar at the McLean County Museum of History is spent looking through the lens of a camera, photographing the 20,000+ objects in our collection. Capturing the perfect image doesn’t always come easily and I’m always impressed by anyone with a good eye for photography. One su...
2 mins read by Tod Eagleton
August 7th, 2015
McLean County Fairgrounds, 1956
Who remembers the old fairgrounds off Veterans Parkway? Back in 1955, the McLean County Farm Bureau purchased Emile Philip Schandein’s 78-acre farm for $60,000. Located at the southwest corner of Illinois Route 9 and Hershey Road and just east of what would become Veterans Parkway, this old farm ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
August 6th, 2015
Photo of the Week, 128: Dog Days of Summer Miller Park, 1937
Oh where oh where did the summer go? That’s a common refrain heard around these parts as we enter the dog days of the season and the school year fast approaches. Perhaps we can keep some of the warm summer spirit with us into the chillier autumn days to come by recalling this July 1937 scene of...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp