Research

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Vertical File Catalog

Search our invaluable collection of 3,500+ manuscripts, reminiscences, research papers, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and so much more.

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Finding Aids

Detailed inventories of archival collections housed in our onsite archives.

Funk Bros Seed Company

The Funk family arrived in McLean County from Ohio in 1824. Over the years Isaac Funk acquired 22,000 acres of farmland and upon his...

Williams Oil-o-Matic

Charles U. Williams came to Bloomington in the late nineteenth century. He was an itinerant photographer who decided to relocate to...

McLean County Poor Farm

For more than 90 years, the McLean County Poor Farm, located south of Bloomington, housed some of the area’s poorest and most...

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Photos

Architecture of McLean County

Thousands of images of the built environment, from the earliest cabins to construction of homes in the 21st century.

Work in McLean County

Thousands of images showing hundreds of occupations that helped build McLean County, and the people who labored within them.

Public Life in McLean County

Images in this collection include clubs, schools, parades, sports, service organizations, government, and medicine in McLean County.

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Publications

Links to dozens of publications about McLean County history, digitized by the Museum and other institutions

City Directories

Thanks to a partnership with Bloomington Public Library and intern Noah Tang, local directories from 1855-1920 have been digitized, and are available on the Internet Archive.

34 items

Home Town in the Corn Belt, which debuted in late December 1950, contains 171 articles, including 39 biographical sketches and 52 poems relating to local history by 132 authors (mostly regular local folk).

5 items

General Reference

Good Old Times in McLean County, The Biographical Record of McLean County, Illustrated History of McLean County, and much more.

17 items

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Maps

1914 Standard atlas of McLean County, Illinois

Library of Congress

Bloomington, Illinois 1867 (Bird's-eye view)

Library of Congress

Map Of McLean County, Ill. 1886.

David Rumsey Map Collection

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Pages from our Past Articles

Articles on various topics, written by Museum Librarian Bill Kemp for the Pantagraph

‘Black Devils’ earned fame in WW I

During World War I, several dozen Bloomington-Normal residents fought in an African-American regiment that earned a reputation for...

Bloomington home to world champion singing mouse

“The voice that spanned continents and oceans to win international acclaim is forever stilled,” announced a somber Pantagraph in...

Weston Cemetery Prairie window to lost world

In 1971, C.E. “Bud” Wink and Dr. Lee Garber of Fairbury undertook an investigation of five-acre Weston Cemetery, located in nearby...

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Featured Collections

Vertical File Catalog

Search our invaluable collection of 3,500+ manuscripts, reminiscences, research papers, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and so much more.

Black History Project

The Bloomington-Normal Black History Project (BNBHP) was founded in 1982 and its collections span the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection contains photographs, portraits, booklets, articles, and photocopies related to club organizations and churches of the local Black community. In 1989, the Black History Project was affiliated with the McLean County Historical Society, which now serves as a repository for the project's collections.

Post Amerikan

Held by the MCMH and digitized by Eastern Illinois University. The Post Amerikan began publication in 1972 in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. An underground, alternative newspaper, it was run collectively by volunteers. It was the longest continuous publication run for any underground newspaper in America.