Blog post by Randi Richardson In 1924 John Dillinger, a petty criminal and resident of Mooresville, Indiana, was found guilty of a bungled robbery attempt and an assault on a local grocer. Unable to afford a lawyer, the court threw the book at him. He was sentenced from 10 to 21 years in prison. Although John’s
Blog post by Randi Richardson Art in and around Bloomington is available in abundance; some of the oldest art, freely and readily accessed by the public, is that in the courthouse dome. It is the work of Gustav Adolph Brand (1862-1944). County commissioners and a committee of Bloomington citizens composed of Henry Gentry, J. D. Showers, Fred
Blog post by Wayne Hastings Introduction to the Stuff Lying Around Your House Have you ever taken the time to really study the stuff lying around your house? Attentively looking at the things my family just ended up with has become a recent hobby of mine. A question as simple as “where did this come
Blog post by Randi Richardson Cotton Berndt, according to the Bloomington World on August 23, 1917, was offered a job as athletic director at the state university in Gainesville, Florida, but opted instead to remain in a sales position with Showers Bros. Now Cotton is an odd name and in all the years I’ve done research in
Blog post by Randi Richardson The new Hotel Graham was one of the most modern in the Midwest. And at long last, when weary travelers arrived in Bloomington looking desperately for accommodations there would be some relief. The Hotel Graham was known previously as the Hotel Bowles. A third of the hotel was razed in
Blog post by Randi Richardson Irvin Minneman, an IU freshman from Logansport rooming at the Bloomington home of Emma Munson on Fourth Street, awoke on Wednesday, May 24, 1911, not feeling well at all. For the past few days he had been suffering from a bad cold. About 8 AM he asked his roommate, Bernice
Blog post by Randi Richardson On October 28, 1902, the Bloomington (IN) Courier published a very interesting item from the Indianapolis Sentinel in which it was noted that John Blair, who in his old age, was digging up corpses from the “old Covenanter graveyard,” many of whom were friends and associates he had previously helped to bury. The article
Blog post by Randi Richardson Two hundred years ago, in the early 1800’s, oxen and ox teams were common sights. They pulled many of the Conestoga wagons that brought pioneers into Monroe County, hauled trees chopped from virgin forests and helped to break the sod to make the ground ready for crops. Even after trains
Blog post by Randi Richardson Behind the historic Mayfield house on Oard Road, with enough space in between for a nice sized garden, is a cemetery. It’s relatively small in size, about half an acre, with 106 or 107 aging, barely legible tombstones. Today it is known as the Vernal/Mayfield Cemetery. Rev. Leroy Mayfield probably
Blog post by Randi Richardson Richland Township, Monroe County, Indiana, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lisa Schock did a nice article about the home published in the Bloomington Herald-Times on July 9, 1994. It was accompanied by a lovely photo taken by Phil Whitlow that showed shuttered windows and a nicely kept
