Death in the barnyards – the sudden freeze of 1836

This episode of McHistory chronicles a huge temperature drop in the winter of 1836 that unsettled settlers and led to stories and tall tales for generations.

Ange Milner was much more than ISNU's first librarian

It takes a beloved or significant figure in the history of an institution to name a building after that person. Illinois State University ended up naming two libraries for Angeline Vernon Milner.

'Cousin Emmy' was a pioneer of country and roots music

Bloomington-Normal and McLean County are not really known as a cradle of country music. But there was this one time...in the 1930s. Cynthia May Carver, better known by her stage name “Cousin Emmy,” was a pioneer in country and roots music during the golden age of radio from the 1930s to the 1960s.

The last legal MLB spitballer pitched in Bloomington

Hall of Fame pitcher Burleigh Grimes was the last major league pitcher to legally throw a spitball. Grimes played with seven different major league teams, though mostly with the Dodgers and Cardinals. He retired in 1934, the year before he came to Bloomington.

Legendary broadcaster 'Stretch' Miller knew how to tell a story

There are truths. And there are poetic truths, ones that illustrate the human condition even if the stories portrayed lack a certain...accuracy. Why let facts get in the way of a good story, after all? Legendary broadcaster and storyteller Campbell "Stretch" Miller had that attitude toward life and…

The up and down lives of Bloomington's 'indoor chauffeurs'

There was a time when people operated elevators across the country, instead of passengers just pressing buttons as they do today. Meet the elevator operators who kept McLean County moving.

Softball integral to developing women's sport in Central Illinois

Baseball is happening and all is right with the world. Today, though, let's hear about another bat and ball game — softball. It was big in Central Illinois for many decades with lots of semi-pro teams and even industrial leagues for men and women, and offered an outlet for young women before they h…

Rivian is not the first electric automaker in Bloomington-Normal

The story of the Henney Kilowatt, the mid-20th century experimental electric battery-powered car made in Bloomington-Normal by the Eureka-Williams Corporation, is a colorful one, according to McLean County Museum of History Librarian Bill Kemp.

Civil War prisoner of war Alpheus Pike

A teenaged boy-soldier from Normal survived one of the most brutal prison camps in history. Decades after the Civil War, Alpheus Pike wrote a memoir. He detailed horrific sanitary conditions, the murderous behavior of guards and prisoners alike, and amid the privation, the grace notes of human cari…

McHistory - McLean County Basketball Tournament

Central Illinois, particularly in small rural school districts, is basketball country. Hear about the longest running annual basketball tournament in the state, at 112 years and counting.