History

Bloomington-Normal has a long and distinguished history of business entrepreneurship. One less than distinguished, but very successful, business, had a continent-wide spread in the late 1800s.

Bloomington-Normal has a long and distinguished history of business entrepreneurship. One less than distinguished, but very successful, business, had a continent-wide spread in the late 1800s.

The last serious history of McLean County came out in 1908. That's about to change with the book, “Freedom, Land, And Community: A History of McLean County, Illinois 1730 to 1900.” The author is Greg Koos, the retired director of the McLean County Museum of History.

A 19th century Bloomington doctor was a respected physician who was accused of stealing corpses.

A 19th century Bloomington doctor was a respected physician who was accused of stealing corpses.

Efforts are underway to create a museum in Woodford County dedicated to the first Black man in Illinois to cast a ballot after the ratification of the 15th Amendment.

A Bloomington attorney and Lincoln scholar has given an 1854 letter Lincoln wrote to a Peoria Attorney to the Abraham Lincoln Library and Presidential Museum in Springfield.

After her passing in 2015, Irene Mischler left a trust in memory of her brother Charles Mischler to be used for economics and history materials. The…

Most people in Bloomington-Normal know David Davis as the campaign manager for Abe Lincoln. Most know him as the guy who had a big mansion built on the…

Andrew Jackson Smith was born a slave in Kentucky in 1842, the probable son of a slave holder. He escaped to the Union Army, became the servant of an…