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Nature

Articles

15 items

lithograph

Barns fast disappearing from Corn Belt countryside
One would be hard pressed to come up with a more iconic image of the Corn Belt than the old woo...

Article

Before railroads, stage lines crisscrossed the prairies
One of the more striking modern day conveniences we take for granted is the ease of long distan...

Article

This engraving, “Observatory of the Canadian Eclipse Expedition, at Jefferson City, Iowa,” appeared in the Oct. 9, 1869, issue of The Illustrated London News. These Canadians traveled to Iowa in order to view the total solar eclipse of Aug. 7, 1869, which was visible over much of Central Illinois.

Bloomington witness to 1869 total solar eclipse
Illinois became the nation’s 21st state in 1818, meaning next year will be the Prairie State’s ...

Article

Evergreen Lake groundbreaking 50 years ago
Fifty years ago this week—April 27, 1968—Bloomington officials held a groundbreaking ceremony f...

Article

portrait of a white man in a three piece suit with very messy dark hair and massive sideburns

Fearsome ‘Sudden Change’ threatened pioneer life and limb
A cataclysmic meteorological event swept across much of Central Illinois the afternoon of Dec. ...

Article

a dirt trail meets water, surrounded by trees and bushes

For pioneers, river crossings sometimes matter of life and death
Of all the hardships faced by pioneers, the danger of crossing swollen rivers and creeks is one...

Article

lithograph of bee hive

Honeybees sweetened 19th century life in Central Illinois
In November 1887, a poor local honey harvest led The Pantagraph to predict scarce inventories a...

Article

Lightning a menace, past and present
On May 20, 1897, a heavy afternoon shower accompanied by a “brilliant electrical display” passe...

Article

Moraine View park opened in 1959
There are few lovelier corners of McLean County than Moraine View State Recreation Area. Situat...

Article

Museum collections window to East Bay’s early years
The COVID-19 crisis has taken many things from us—above all, the lives of 125,000 Americans. We...

Article

Solar superstorm awes locals in 1859
It was known as “the week the sun touched the earth.” In late August and early September 1859, ...

Article

Springtime once meant return of prairie flowers
Novelist, poet, essayist and farmer Wendell Berry has said that we live in a time of “punishmen...

Article

Teays River coursed through Central Illinois eons ago
With no major navigable bodies of water, McLean County and much of east-central Illinois are la...

Article

Twin Cities once hosted own Chautauqua
“The most American thing in America.” That’s what Theodore Roosevelt said of the Chautauqua mov...

Article

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...

Article

Blog

3 items

McHistory: McLean County’s Connection to the Tri-State Tornado of 1925
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 13: Tornado Season is Here
“Tornado Leaves Trail of Debris Strung Across Central Illinois" read the page 5 headline i...

Blog Post

‘Tied in knots’ outside of Heyworth June 1949
A massive knot disfigured an old black oak on the Charles Hall farm one mile east of Heyworth. ...

Blog Post

Farming in the Great Corn Belt

5 items

1946 to 2000: Corn and Soybean Crops
After WWII many McLean County farmers reduced or totally eliminated livestock production in ord...

Digital Exhibit

Draining the Prairie
With most savannah land claimed by 1836, some farmers chose to take a chance by trying to produ...

Digital Exhibit

Erosion
Intensified farming and the use of tractors caused wind and water erosion, but area farmers did...

Digital Exhibit

Nature's Forces
The McLean County farmers’ ability to make good choices drove their success or failure. But wit...

Digital Exhibit

Our Rich Land
The Great Corn Belt is only great because of its incredible fertility. Its history started in t...

Digital Exhibit

Finding Aids

6 items

Aldrich, Frank W.
While Frank Aldrich was a banker by trade, he was remembered by many, locally and international...

Finding Aid

Almanac
Almanacs are annual publications that include information such as weather forecasts, farmers�...

Finding Aid

Apollo 11 Pantagraph Run
This collection of The Daily Pantagraph covers the Apollo 11 space flight and Moon landing. The...

Finding Aid

Grand Prairie Bird Alliance Collection
The first Audubon Society in McLean County was called the Cardinal Audubon Club, organized in 1...

Finding Aid

ParkLands Foundation
ParkLands Foundation was chartered in 1967 as a private, non-profit corporation under Illinois ...

Finding Aid

Water
The file contains various reports, newspaper clippings, maps, and ephemera regarding the water ...

Finding Aid

Speakers Bureau

2 items

McLean County Lost: An Illustrated Tour of Vanished Worlds

Speakers Bureau

The Night the Stars Fell

Speakers Bureau

Videos

1 item

Creating a Sensory Garden with U of I Extension Brittnay Haag

Video