On Monday morning, February 26, [1838], about half past four in the morning, the citizens of Bloomington were roused from their sleep by the ringing of bells and cries of fire. It was soon ascertained that the fire was in the frame buildings owned by G. R. Johnson and occupied by Mr. Jonathan Legg as […]
Blog post by Randi Richardson On May 9, 1883, the Bloomington Progress reported that a car load of old rubber boots had been gathered up over the past year and shipped to eastern cities as they were in great demand by the manufacturers of chewing gum. The rubber was reportedly melted in large kettles and […]
At this year’s Gala, the Collection Manager, Hilary Fleck, was asked to have objects or projects from the Collection that attendees could sponsor to help us further care for the artifacts in our collection. Dr. John Thiel answered this call and fully sponsored two graduate interns to identify, clean, and catalog the geological and fossil […]
Blog post by Randi Richardson The Lilly Library at Indiana University, Bloomington, has a number of items relevant to the history of Monroe County. Among those items is Session Book 2 for the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation at Bloomington. This book covers the period from 1838 to 1860 and includes a list of baptisms from January […]
Blog post by Randi Richardson Harold Franklin Hayes was born in Marion County, Indiana, on February 6, 1925, to John Michael and Daisy “Fern” (Baugh) Hayes. He had an older sister named Rosemary at the time of his birth and would eventually have a younger sister, Hannah. Harold’s paternal grandfather, John Joseph Hayes, was a […]
Blog post by Randi Richardson The Genealogy Library at the Monroe County History Center has a wonderful collection of files for the various churches in Monroe County. Although the collection is quite comprehensive, there are several files that contain only a limited amount of information. One of those files is for the Seventh Day Adventist […]
Blog post by Randi Richardson There’s no doubt about it. The hitchrack surrounding the court house square was controversial. Oh, not at first, when Bloomington was yet a village, the streets were dirt and the merchants few. Folks came to town on a horse or in a buggy, occasionally a team of oxen, tied up […]
Blog post by Randi Richardson On the afternoon of September 27, 1951, the Airport Roller Skating Rink and a small residential home utilized by the rink for storage were completely destroyed by fire fanned by a brisk wind. The rink, which measured about 110×60 feet, was located two miles west of Bloomington. It was owned […]
Blog post by Randi Richardson By the time the Civilian Conservation Corps program ended in 1942, some three million men, including more than 63,000 Hoosiers had worked in more than 2,000 camps throughout the 48 states and the U. S. possessions of Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. There were 56 CCC companies in […]
Blog post by Randi Richardson Rev. Isaac Owen, missionary of the Methodist Church, arrived in California in September 1849. After passing through Sacramento without stopping, they continued west toward San Francisco. On September 23 they camped in Grass Valley. It was there that Isaac stuck his cane in the soft ground, hung his hat on […]