I’ve actually looked at Franklin Square in Bloomington before back in March of 2016, but I thought I would take another look. The square has served as a public forum in much of the city’s Nineteenth Century’s history, including a speech by William Jennings Bryan, the wedding of Adlai Stevenson’s daughter, and other events.
Tag: Bloomington-Normal
Four Historic Districts, Bloomington, Illinois, Part Three: Davis-Jefferson
The centerpiece of the Davis-Jefferson Historic District, east of the center of Bloomington is the David Davis House, Clover Lawn, whose estate clearly once encompassed much of the surrounding blocks. Davis was actually a friend and ally of Abraham Lincoln and served on the Supreme Court after being appointed by the President. French American architect…
Four Historic Districts, Bloomington, Illinois, Part Two: East Grove Street
East Grove Street is the next historic district, which extends out east from downtown Bloomington. It is primarily populated with Queen Anne style houses from the 1880s. There has been extensive rehabbing of the houses, and it is really an impressive group of homes from the period. There are one or two Italianate style houses…
Four Historic Districts, Bloomington, Illinois, Part One: North Roosevelt Avenue
I was up in Central Illinois, so I thought I would check out some of the historic districts in Bloomington that looked interesting. I’ve already checked out White Place, one of the other prominent historic districts, back in March of 2016. We’ll be looking at four in all, starting with the North Roosevelt Avenue Historic…
Moses Montefiore Synagogue, Revisited
I knew in my short visit to Bloomington-Normal that there was one place that I had to check up on, and I was pleasantly surprised! The former Moses Montefiore Synagogue has been purchased and renovated into what I believe, according to newspaper reports, a new community space. If the article proved true, it was renovated…
West Market Street, Bloomington, Illinois
The fortunes of many a street in America is determined by the assigning of numbers on a shield. In this case, for West Market Street in Bloomington, Illinois, it was assigned US Highway 150, probably sometimes around or after 1926, and its fate has been tied to that designation since that time. Heavy through traffic…
State Farm Insurance Building
Built according to plans by Archie Schaeffer and Phillip Hooton in 1929, the State Farm Insurance Building in downtown Bloomington was added on to repeatedly over the years. They moved out in 1974 to a giant Modernist complex on the east side of town. Viewed from a distance, it becomes obvious that the Art-Deoc masterpiece…
Ensenberger Building, Bloomington, Illinois
The cool proto-modern Ensenberger, with elements of Art-Deco styling, has now been converted into condos. Designed by Arthur L. Pillsbury and Phillip Hooten, it opened in 1926. Apparently, the current facade is newer than the building itself, having been reskinned at some point.