McHistory: Normal Post Office depression era mural

'My Store' was a retail jewel in Downtown Bloomington

It has been many decades since Downtown Bloomington was the premier destination for shoppers in the community. There was a time, though, when there were four large department stores downtown. One of them was My Store.

McHistory: Homelessness and Hoboes

There's a declaration of emergency over the number of unhoused people in Bloomington right now, and efforts to provide new housing and expanded space in shelters. The issue is not new, though the response today is perhaps more humane than it was in other eras.

Modern electronics rests with Bloomington-Normal's only Nobel Prize winner

McLean County has one Nobel prize winner — but oh what a one! Modern electronics rests upon Clinton Davisson’s physics experiments bombarding a block of crystalized nickel with electrons. Davisson and his colleague at Bell labs, L.H. Germer, measured the angle at which the electrons were scattered …

Even before Route 66, motorists camped at a way stop in Bloomington

The iconic Route 66 will hit the century mark next year. Before it became the "Mother Road," it was Illinois Route 4. And on it was a rest spot for those early motorists on the south side of Bloomington.

Archival Audio 2 - merger

archival audio 1 - beer riot

The 100 Bushel Corn Club boosted mid-century ag yields

The average corn yield last year in McLean County was nearly 247 bushels per acre. That's enough to blow the minds of the grandfathers of today's farmers. Agriculture has changed nearly beyond recognition in less than a century.

Irish tenor John McCormack stirred and stirred up Bloomington-Normal

Imagine, if you will, how big a deal it would be if Taylor Swift gave a concert in Bloomington-Normal. That's the equivalent to the appearance of lyric tenor John McCormack on Nov. 24, 1924.

Courting and calling on New Year's Day

Human beings have marked the turning of the year with many different traditions over thousands of years. Some practices have fallen out of favor. Today, American society celebrates on New Year’s Eve, and not New Year's Day, though this was not always the case.