Gridley

Resources are listed in alphabetical order. More information can always be found by using our website search bar, or contacting a member of our staff.

Blog

4 items

"Gridley High, January 1953 County Hoops Champs"

Here’s Gridley High School Coach Clarence “Merk” Kyger readying his varsity squad for the 1953 ...

Blog Post

Dr. Moate becomes proficient knitter April 1946

Dr. Thomas Moate, who practiced medicine in Gridley for 50 years, picked up knitting at the age...

Blog Post

Frankie Finck, Gridley’s ‘strong baby’ August 1949

Margy Finck of Gridley demonstrates how her six-month-old son Frankie was able to balance in he...

Blog Post

Three hospitals; three styles of caps June 1958

The distinctive caps worn by graduate nurses at the three Bloomington-Normal hospitals were com...

Blog Post

Farming in the Great Corn Belt

Digital Exhibit

5 items

1853 to 1899: Labor

The railroad arrived in 1853, bringing with it an influx of immigrants willing to provide labor...

Digital Exhibit

Farm Improvements

Farm improvements, such as fences, barns, sheds, and grain storage were expensive additions. Bu...

Digital Exhibit

Grain Elevators

As corn yields increased, grain elevators began to be built along the railroad. These receiving...

Digital Exhibit

Hand Tools and Mechanization

Whether by their own resources, bank loans, or later government programs, a farmer’s success a...

Digital Exhibit

Outbuildings

During the 19th century, the height of a corn crib was generally limited to the height a farmer...

Digital Exhibit

Finding Aids

Archival collection finding aids (full contents of collections available on site)

5 items

Farrell Family

Ezra Thomas Farrell (1884-1962) and Sylvia G. Walston Farrell (1882-1964) farmed in Hudson, unt...

Finding Aid

Freed, Bill & Ruth (Klein)

This collection includes photos, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, land deeds and abstracts of t...

Finding Aid

Huber, Dale Railroad Ephemera

Dale Huber (1917-1985) was born April 15, 1917, in Gridley, Illinois. He married Opal Drake on ...

Finding Aid

Klein, Lois Welsh School Textbooks

This is a collection of Lois Welsh’s (now Klein) books from a one room school in Gridley Townsh...

Finding Aid

Wilson, Edith

Goldie Edith Peyton Wilson was a resident of Gridley, where she farmed with her husband Lyle on...

Finding Aid

Publications

Digitized books and pamphlets. To see all books in our collection, search our library catalog.

1 item

The Story of McLean County and its Schools

Publication

Working for a Living

Digital Exhibit

1 item

Powering Rural Communities

Bloomington residents began to electrify their homes in the late 1880s. But rural McLean County...

Digital Exhibit