Seminary Square Park, the original location of Indiana University, was founded in 1975.

Seminary Square Park is the original location of Indiana University, which is now a large sprawling campus to the northeast. The university was founded here in 1838, but the first educational institution at the site was a seminary founded in 1816 (it didn't actually receive state approval until 1820 and the first building wasn't erected until 1824) four years after the granting of Indiana's statehood. Eventually, the school became a college in 1828 and by 1838 it became Indiana University. The University stayed here until it moved its current location in 1883 when it became clear that the site was too small for the growing institution. However, education remained an important activity here. A high school, junior high, and preparatory school (for the university) operated here. Finally in 1964 a fire destroyed the high school building and it was decided that it would not be rebuilt. The other structures at the park were demolished. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Seminary Square Park

The Mathers Museum of World Cultures' exhibit, 800 Seasons: Change and Continuity in Bloomington, 1818-2018, features various sites in our community. Starting at the Mathers Museum walk to a few other sites featured in the exhibit.

800 Seasons:  Walking tour

This walking tour includes a variety of museums, landmarks, and historic markers in the city of Bloomington. The tour offers a chance to learn about a number of the historical homes, downtown buildings, and includes stops at several museums. Visitors might also enjoy using Clio to see some of the landmarks on the University of Indiana campus, located just blocks from the downtown area. 

Historical Downtown Bloomington Walking Tour

John L. Nichols, born in 1859, served as Bloomington's first practicing architect and the only one active in the city for most of his life. The city commissioned him to design numerous city buildings in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including several buildings within and near historic Courthouse Square, such as the Princess Theater in 1913. In addition to the vast amount of commercial construction he developed, Nichols designed an abundance of well-regarded residences, such as the historic Batman-Waldron mansion in 1895. Moreover, he also built several smaller residences and, in 1902, published a book of residential designs. His own historic home, finished in 1900, stands as a demonstration of his work, which he included in his book. Nichols' Album of Artistic Dwellings, a catalog of more than 100 of his plans that he published in 1902, included the design of his historic residence. Its quasi-elliptical shape exists as one of the home's most striking features, with its long axis parallel to the street. Behind the three primary rooms that make up the ellipse (living room, dining room, and bedroom) is a rectangular wing containing a second bedroom, kitchen, bath, pantry, and original glassed-in porch. The home also includes several ornamental details. However, the home's most distinctive feature involves the use of geodes (spherical limestone rocks lined with crystals) for the front foundation and the base of the porch. Geodes abound in Monroe County, but their use in construction is exceptionally rare. Nichols owned the historic home for only five years and only lived in it for two. In 1905, he sold the home to the Indianapolis Southern Railroad, which was constructing a railroad line adjacent to the property at the time. The house served as the home to one of the railroad employees (or several) for a dozen years and then remained mainly vacant until 1940. From 1940 to roughly 1980, the house changed hands many times and suffered from decline. During the 1980s, a new owner purchased the home and renovated it in an attempt to restore it to its original state.A reporter noted in Nichols' obituary (1929) that he and his company produced 632 designs in 1908 alone, a statistic that has been repeated in numerous accounts. While that monumental achievement is not easily substantiated, it is clear that Nichols had a hand in building hundreds, if not more than a thousand, commercial and residential structures. He got his initial training from his father, Hiram J. Nichols, an early settler and land surveyor of Bloomington, and a late nineteenth-century contractor who built the first two buildings located on Indiana University's current campus. Around that time, John Nichols moved West. By 1886 he worked in Denver as a draftsman and supervising architect. However, the Panic of 1893 had a profound effect on Nichols' career. In the wake of the financial turmoil that took hold in the U.S., construction work proved scarce. In 1895, Nichols decided to return to Bloomington, where he started his own architectural business. As the economy recovered and Bloomington grew, a population and building boom emerged. Thus, John Nichols' work largely transpired between the 1890s and 1920s, during that time of city expansion. As the city's only true practicing architect (and a talented one), he seized on the city's rapid expansion and turned into into a highly successful career. As a result, Nichols' fingerprints are found throughout the city, with his own home serving as a fine demonstration of his legacy.

John L Nichols served as Bloomington's first full-time architect and from 1890 to 1920, he designed hundreds of commercial and residential structures in the city. Nichols completed this elliptic-shaped home in 1900 and included the home as one of the hundred designs in his 1902 catalog entitled Album of Artistic Dwellings. Nichols also lived in the home for two years before selling the house by 1905 to a railroad company for use as temporary housing for employees. After World War II, ownership of the home changed several times and the structure fell into disrepair. A renovation during the 1980s likely saved the structure from demolition and in recent years, it has served as an attorney's office.

John L. Nichols House

For the first part of its existence, the&nbsp;building was a book bindery, a boarding house, and the home of the dean of the Indiana University's School of Business. Mary and Edwin bought it in 1952 and lived there for the rest of their lives; Edwin died three years before Mary's death in 1999. Mary spent several years preparing the house to be a museum, meticulously keeping records of all the items. The museum board hired a new director in 2010.

Named after one of its former owners, Mary and Edwin Farmer, the Farmer House Museum preserves and interprets local history and family life during the 20th century. The house was built in 1869, a period of rapid growth for Bloomington and the surrounding area. The museum offers a variety of artifacts thanks to its namesake, Mary Farmer, and her decision to collect and save many of the items that now constitute the heart of the museum's collection. That collection includes family photographs and images of early Bloomington, clothing, school memorabilia, pottery, furniture, and a variety of letters. The museum offers rotating exhibits featuring items from the collection, as well as items loaned from other museums and members of the community. Admission to the museum is free.

Farmer House Museum

The Morgan House is a modified version of Queen Anne architecture, a style that grew popular around the turn of the twentieth century. Constructed in 1890 by local teacher and lawyer James F. Morgan, the design came from a plan found in architect George Franklin Barber's architectural-design catalog. His catalog, mail-order blueprints, and magazines with designs inspired numerous residential building projects of that era; his Knoxville firm published more than 800 designs and sold approximately 20,000 sets of plans to clients worldwide. Born in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1854, George F. Barber (1854 - 1915) grew up on a Kansas farm headed by his sister Olive and her husband, William Barrett. He ended up in Kansas when his mother moved to Fort Scott after his father's early death around 1860. Barber spent his early days working on the farm and attending school periodically. As he grew older, he studied construction and design books on his own. By 1880, Barber was married and working as a house carpenter, but then he moved back to DeKalb, IL, in 1884 and started his career as an architect. In DeKalb, Barber designed homes for his brother's construction company, including the Congregational Church, which still stands in DeKalb. Barber published The Cottage Souvenir about 1887, his first architectural design book in 1887, which included eighteen house designs. In 1888, Barber moved his wife and child to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he developed into one of the nation's most successful architects, mainly through his mail-order blueprint business, architectural catalogs, and monthly magazine. In 1890, Barber garnered national acclaim for his book: The Cottage Souvenir No. 2, A Repository of Artistic Cottage Architecture and Miscellaneous Designs, which included fifty-nine designs and photographs of completed houses. One of the designs, number 41, served as the basis for the Morgan House, although modified to suit the builder's tastes. By 1900 Barber's firm employed thirty draftsmen and twenty secretaries, and it served clients throughout the country and South Africa, Europe, Japan, and China. Barber published nine catalogs and a monthly magazine, American Homes, A Journal Devoted to Planning, Building, and Beautifying the Home (1895 to 1902). During nearly two decades, the firm produced over 800 designs and sold roughly 20,000 sets of plans. His firm's success was aided in part by a scarcity of local architects. Barber's business catered mainly to the rising middle class of the late nineteenth century —bankers, professionals, and farmers — as well as wealthy industrialists. In 1908 the mail-order business ceased because the firm dedicated its work to construction projects near Knoxville. Barber remained in Knoxville until he passed away in 1915. However, homes such as the Morgan House stand as a monument to his influence.

The Morgan House, built in 1890 by local teacher and lawyer James F. Morgan, is one of thousands of houses built during the 1890s and early 1900s using designs found in catalogs published by architect George Franklin Barber. The self-taught architect began his career in DeKalb, IL in the late 18880s before moving to Knoxville in 1890 where he provided designs via mail-order and published several catalogs and magazines with numerous designs and guides. Houses inspired by his work could be found all throughout the U.S. as well as Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Morgan House design could be found in his breakthrough work, The Cottage Souvenir No. 2, published in 1891.

 Morgan House

The two-story, L-Shaped Millen-Chase-McCalla house rises two stories and includes one wing designed in the I-house style and Greek Revival and Italianate features throughout. The lot (where the home stands) enjoys a rich history, dating back to the founding of Monroe County in 1818. The historic home was constructed in three periods, the rear wing in 1844; what is now the main house facing east in 1854; and the 1871 remodeling in a combination of the Greek Revival and Italianate styles. Its limestone foundation speaks to the booming limestone quarry industry located near Bloomington. Furthermore, each stage of construction significantly raised the value of the property, which speaks to the financial status of its owners. Named for recently elected President James Monroe, the formal establishment of the county occurred in 1818, with Bloomington becoming its county seat. Originally located in a land full of wooded hills, investors cleared the land and turned it into lots suitable for farming. Within the first three years, residents built a school, church, and log cabin that housed both the courthouse and the library. Occupation of the lot where the historic home now stands can be traced to the platting of the town of Bloomington around 1820 with construction on the home occurring roughly twenty-five years later. As well, in 1820, the Indiana Legislature selected Perry Township (immediately south of Bloomington) as the site for a state seminary, which opened in 1824 and evolved into Indiana University by the 1830s. The University helped the town grow, but more substantial growth transpired between the Civil War and the Great Depression with the arrival and development of the railroad in Bloomington, starting with the first line arriving in 1853. The extensive rail Midwestern network that ran through Bloomington by the late nineteenth century allowed its businesses to grow, including the limestone quarry industry; the Millen-Chase-McCalla House has a limestone foundation. Well before Bloomington enjoyed its growth or construction on the house began, Addison Smith, a land agent and Monroe County prosecuting attorney, along with his wife Nancy, purchased the land in 1818, serving as the property's first owners. They sold the land in 1827 to James Whitcomb, a Kentucky lawyer who moved to Bloomington in 1824. Like Smith, Whitcomb served as Monroe County's prosecuting attorney from 1826 to 1829. However, he also won a seat on the Indiana Senate in 1830, received an appointment from President Andrew Jackson to serve as Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C. in 1836, won the Indiana gubernatorial election in 1841, and then served as a member of the U.S. Senate starting in 1849. Whitcomb divided the parcel he purchased from Smith into north and south halves. He kept the southern half but sold the north half to William and Laura Batterman, who in 1834 sold the property to Lewis Bollman, Indiana University's first graduate. Whitcomb then sold the southern half in 1836 to a couple that held the property for two months before selling it to William and Elizabeth Millen, Sr. In 1844, Millen made substantial improvements to the nearly two acres of land comprising the southern half of Whitcomb's former property, which included the I-House that survives today as the southern face of the L-Shape home. First identified as a distinctive building type in the 1930s by historian Fred Kniffen, and so named because of its prevalence in the "I" states of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. Kniffen emphasized in his works that the new term he developed did not imply that this house type originated in, or was restricted to, those three states. In fact, one could easily find I-house types throughout the Midwest, Midatlantic, and Upland South. Despite the diversity of floor plans, the primary I-house form involves a two-story structure with one-room deep and two-rooms wide on both floors, although they may be positioned differently from house to house. Other than those standard designs, the I-House took a variety of styles from region to region, demonstrated by the Millen-Chase-McCalla house with its limestone foundation. The I-house grew in popularity throughout the nineteenth century, reflecting the growing prosperity of the agrarian community, sometimes referred to as a "farmers mansion." However, in Bloomington, many prominent business people and leaders lived in I-Houses. In 1854, after the home changed ownership a couple of times, Aaron Chase purchased the property and constructed the main house facing east, thus creating the L-shape plan that exists today. Aaron Chase died in 1864 and the family sold the home in 1871 to John McCalla, who renovated the home the next year in a combination of the Greek Revival and Italianate styles, which also appeared in several Bloomington homes that emerged after the Civil War during a period of robust growth and prosperity for Bloomington. John McCalla came to Bloomington in 1833. In 1844, he and his brother Thomas opened a general store in downtown Bloomington under the name McCalla Brothers. He bought out his brother's share in 1852, changed the name to Mccalla &amp; Co., and moved the store to the west side of the main square. The new store thrived until Mccalla retired in 1888 and sold the business. The McCalla family stayed in the home for twenty-three years. In 1894, John McCalla deeded the property to his son-in-law and daughter, Professor Charles and Mary Harris, who retained it for the next five years. In 1899, they sold the home to Redick McKee Wylie and his wife Madeline. Thompson. Wylie was the second youngest son of Dr. Andrew Wylie, Indiana University's first president. Today, the home largely goes by the name "Topolgus Building," which refers to the Topolgus family, who have owned the building since late in the twentieth century when Dr. James N. Topolgus, Sr. purchased the building in 1947 for his medical offices. Dr. Topolgus immigrated to the US via Ellis Island in 1913, fleeing his home village near Smyrna from the Turkish invasion. Prior to WWII, Topolgus Sr. had moved to Bloomington (from Gary, Indiana) and attended Indiana University; he was one of the first to graduate from the School of Medicine’s newly established obstetrics and gynecological department. The historic home's current occupant, Topo's 403 (a restaurant) is still owned and operated by the Topolgus family and the "403" refers to the now historic 403 Walnut Street address.The Millen-Chase-McCalla name speaks to the three owners who built the physical home that survives today, starting with the original I-House, followed by the east-facing home that gave the home its L-shape, and then the Greek and Italianate designs provided in its 1871 renovation. However, the property enjoys a rich history that began long before the home was built, and continued after McCalla sold the home. In addition to the personal history's of each resident, the home and the lot offer a window into the broader history of Bloomington and Monroe Country.

The Millen-Chase-McCalla House emerged in three phases, with an "I House" erected in 1844 by William and Elizabeth Millen, a connecting main house built in 1854 (providing the historic home with its current L-shape) by Aaron Chase, and 1871 renovations conducted by John McCalla and his family, which resulted in its Greek Greek Revival and Italianate-style designs. However, the property enjoys a history that dates back to the Monroe County founding in 1818. Most significantly, James Whitcomb, a Kentucky lawyer purchased the property in 1827. He served as Monroe County's prosecuting attorney, an Indiana Senator in 1830, Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C., Indiana Governor, and finally a U.S. Senator. Whitcomb divided the land in two haves, with the southern half eventually becoming the property for which the historic L-shaped home emerged during the middle of the nineteenth century. The house currently serves as a restaurant known as Topo's 403, owned by the Topolgus family. The family's history in Bloomington begins with Dr. James N. Topolgus, who came to America via Ellis Island in 1913 and went on to become one of the first to graduate from the Indiana University School of Medicine’s obstetrics and gynecological department; many refer to the house as The Topolgus Building rather than its historic name.

Millen-Chase-McCalla House (AKA The Topolgus Building)

In 1902, the townships of Perry and Bloomington voted for an $85,000 subsidy with hopes of attracting a second rail line to the area. As a result, The Illinois Central Railroad came to town and constructed a railroad through Bloomington, followed by the historic depot in 1906. The building design is simple and enjoys no decoration of any significance, meant only to serve its function. The depot served the community until the 1960s, with its peak business transpiring during the 1920s. The railroad arrived in Bloomington in 1854, a sign of the town's maturation, and it aided in Bloomington's continued growth. By the time the Civil War ended, the town's industrial expansion had coincided with a population boom that led to the city's incorporation in 1866. The public courthouse square enjoyed illumination from twenty-nine street lamps by 1880, and then by the first decade of the 1900s, the city paved roads, built a city hall, added a water and sewer system, and began thinking about luring a new railroad. The depot played a vital role in the development of Bloomington's industrial and commercial base. Located in an industrial area near the city center, the depot served the lumber, furniture, and limestone businesses. Business peaked in the 1920s, and the depot expanded to meet the increased demand. However, nearly a century after the railroad first came to town, other forms of transportation supplanted the railroad and created a substantial decline in business for the depot. In the 1950s, the depot was reduced in size, and then in 1963, the railroad closed the depot.

The former Illinois Central Railroad Freight Depot played an integral role in Bloomington's development in the early twentieth century. Illinois Central Railroad built it in 1906 and its purpose was solely to facilitate the transportation of freight goods rather than passengers. The depot was therefore designed with efficiency and functionality in mind; there are no decorative elements. The building has in recent years been home to restaurants before transitioning into an office building. Given its role in the city's history, the depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Illinois Central Railroad Freight Depot

The Johnson's Creamery building, first constructed in 1914, is one of the few intact industrial buildings in Bloomington, Indiana, located not far from the courthouse square within Bloomington's near-west side industrial corridor. The construction of several additions allowed the original red brick building in 1914 to evolve into a large complex by 1951. The expansion reflected the Creamery's growth, while its development and layout reflected the urban constraints placed upon the Creamery, such as the railroad tracks to its east and the arrangement of the streets. The most identifiable feature of the unpainted red, brick factory building is the three-story ice house and 178-foot-tall smokestack with white glazed bricks that vertically spell "Johnson's," which serves as a long-standing Bloomington landmark.While the limestone and broader quarrying industries comprised the majority of Bloomington's economy from the late nineteenth century through World War II, several smaller, highly successful enterprises arose during that same span, including Johnson's Creamery. The Creamery, which produced an array of dairy products, operated alongside such businesses as the Cantol Wax Building (see Clio entry: https://www.theclio.com/entry/135385), and the Showers Brothers, which produced 60% of the furniture built in the U.S. by the 1920s. Ward W. and Ellis W. Johnson founded the Johnson Creamery Company in 1913. Prior to establishing the historic company, the two brothers began humbly one year earlier with a dairy operation involving maintaining stables and delivery wagons, which they continued to use as part of their operation until 1938. (The Creamery processed dairy products from local milk suppliers and delivered the produce to the surrounding community in horse-drawn wagons as late as 1939 before entirely transitioning to automobiles). The Johnson brothers completed the first phase of the Creamery complex in 1914, located in downtown Bloomington's industrial corridor adjacent to the Illinois Central railroad. The Creamery's success pushed the brothers to construct significant additions in 1921, 1927, and 1951. The Creamery additions not only provided for more physical space but allowed for industrial upgrades such as larger boilers and smokestacks, faster processing equipment, and expansive ice houses. (Before large-scale refrigeration evolved during the 1930s, dairy companies had to cut and store blocks of ice to keep the dairy products from spoiling.) But, ice is no match for refrigeration, so they had to process and deliver the products quickly. Thus they employed more than seventy delivery people, who transported such merchandise as coffee and whipping cream; "made-to-measure" ice cream; butter; cottage cheese; various types of milk; Johnson's Orange drink; and distilled water ice. Though most people received Johson's Creamery products via delivery, the company also sold goods to stores (roughly 15% of their items went to stores). They also operated a retail store where people could purchase goods directly from the factory, including by 1951 an ice cream counter. The Johnson Creamery expansion coincided with the overall creamery growth in Indiana. The 234 creameries operating in 1924 grew to more than 400 by the 1940s. Most of the creamery businesses were family-owned and catered to their local markets. Still, as the broader economy changed -- radio &amp; tv commercials, supermarkets, and automobiles (and roads) -- by the 1950s, the number declined again, back to 224 in 1956. Nevertheless, Johnson's Creamery existed among the survivors during the '50s, employing 100 people and keeping eighty area farmers in business. By the 1980s, with milk delivery nearly a thing of the past and the entire dairy industry increasingly nationalized, only 48 creameries operated in Indiana. By 1987, Johnson's Creamery succumbed to the changing economy and sold out to the much larger Maplehurst dairy company. Still, the Creamery outlasted the vast majority of small industries in Bloomington that emerged during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Its smokestack and the entire complex serve as a reminder of the company's influence in Bloomington, as well as the rise and fall of the city's industrial district.

Ward W. and Ellis W. Johnson established Johnson's Creamery in 1913 and began building the factory in 1914. Its success allowed the company to expand the factory several times through 1951. Johnson's maintained its own horse and stable complex to deliver its dairy products to customers, but finally transitioned fully to the automobile in 1938. The Creamery's most recognizable feature is its iconic 178-foot-tall smokestack with white glazed bricks that vertically spell "Johnson's." Built in 1949, it speaks to the company's growth. While many creameries emerged during the the 1920s and 1930s, the rise of supermarket chains and a more nationalized dairy market forced the closure and consolidation of many of Indiana's creamery businesses. Not only did Johnson's survive, it remained functional until the late 1980s.

Johnson's Creamery

The Wicks Building was completed in 1915 and is Bloomington's only commercial building constructed using features associated with the Chicago school of architecture. The building was home to a department store founded by Colonel W.W. Wicks, a Civil War veteran who established a quarry after the war and used profits to establish his family's retail operation. The creation of this family-owned retail business was created at a time of robust industrial, population, and building boom for Bloomington during the early part of the twentieth century. Colonel W. W. Wicks, a Civil War veteran, built the historic structure for his family's business in 1915. Col. Wicks gained wealth when he became involved in the stone quarrying industry after the war. He eventually owned one of the area's most prolific limestone quarries, which allowed him to explore other business interests, including merchandise retailing. Wicks and his family established Wicks Company, one of Bloomington's first department stores. They erected the now-historic structure in 1915 after a fire destroyed their first store. The store was completed when Bloomington was becoming a modern city, with robust growth during the first two decades of the twentieth century. From 1907-1912, the town installed sewers and expanded its outdated water system, and the city paved roughly seventy blocks of streets and sidewalks with bricks. Just as large cities like Chicago and New York once banned the running wild of live animals on its streets, Blooming passed an ordinance in 1910 that prohibited the free run of chickens in its newly established commercial district. Alongside the Wicks Building, construction took place on a new courthouse, city hall, post office, two railroad stations, utility plants, several churches, a school, and two theaters. The population and building boom coincided with an industrial boom, including the limestone quarry business from which Wick benefited; the quarries yielded three million dollars in limestone annually. Not surprisingly, the building's exterior enjoys a limestone facade. Though much smaller in height than most Chicago school commercial buildings, its fenestration, shape, roofline, and the ratio of glass to visual structural follow the pattern of most Chicago-style commercial buildings. The Wicks Department Store remained in business until 1976. Despite the Wicks Company closure, the building has remained relevant to Bloomington's commercial culture. Renovations to the main level finished in 1995, while the second and third floors enjoyed a complete renovation in 2014. Today, the Wicks Building remains functional as a commercial property with retail and office spaces.

Built in 1915, this three-story commercial building incorporates classic features of the Chicago style of architecture and was home to the Wicks Company department store until 1976. The company was established by Civil War veteran Colonel W.W. Wicks after he made his fortune in the limestone quarry business, a flourishing industry in Bloomington at the time. Wicks invested part of his fortune into creating one of Bloomington's first department stores, and his family managed the store from 1915 until its closure in 1976. The building was renovated in 1995 and again in 2014, helping this historic downtown building to serve as an office and retail commercial building. 

Wicks Building

<blockquote>The building was originally built in 1892 by S.K. Rhorer. It was a simple brick, two-story, commercial building, which housed S.K. Rhorer and Sons, Boots and Shoes in the northern half of the building (206 North Walnut) from 1892 until circa 1903, and in the southern half of the building (204 North Walnut) from 1915 to 1920. Various clothiers and shoe stores occupied the two ground floor retail spaces until 1913, at which time the building's owner since 1907, Robert Harris, converted and enlarged the northern half of the building to create the Princess Theatre.&nbsp;1</blockquote>

Georgia born Col. Robert H. Harris was raised on a “typical southern plantation” by his father, Congressman Henry R. Harris. His uncle, Joel Chandler Harris, was a writer best known for creating Uncle Remus. The Uncle Remus stories were a collection of tales, songs, and oral folklore told from the viewpoint of an old, kindly freed slave. Among these tales told by Uncle Remus was that of Br’er Rabbit, and the Tar-Baby. While these tales were praised at the time for their use of the negro dialect to maintain “authenticity,” the passage of time has found Harris’ work to be racist and demeaning.

Robert Harris’ interest in the arts extended to the theatre rather than the pen. In his teen years, he made an attempt to become an actor, touring the country and later England in search of work on the stage. To earn money during his travels, Harris worked as an usher so that he would still be able to watch others perform. When he finally returned from abroad, he went on to write and produce his first play, Two Americans Abroad. While touring the eastern United States with his small company, he met and married a Bloomington native. Together, they settled down in her hometown where he would go on to build two theatres, the Harris Grand in 1907 and the Princess Theatre in 1913.

It was the renovations made to the Princess Theatre in 1923 that truly brought it to life, however. Due to the rising competition between Harris’ theatres and the Indiana Theater, he set local architect John Nichols to the task of redesigning the Princess for a more “modern” audience. A terracotta façade was added, which set the theatre up as “the finest theatre for a town of its size in the United States” and is the part of the structure that remains to this day. The auditorium was expanded, making room for more patrons that would go on to enjoy both the stage and the big screen up until 1981 when Tom and Kathy Canada bought the building with hopes of making much-needed repairs and renovations. Unfortunately, the auditorium addition collapsed in 1985, putting a damper on such plans. Developer Michael Pollack finally made the renovations in 1986 that has allowed it to act as the home of several different restaurants and businesses up to date.

The Princess Theatre Building is a historic theatre in Bloomington, Indiana, that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is also located on the Courthouse Square Historic District alongside such other notable locations as the Monroe County Courthouse, Bloomington City Hall, and Wicks Building. The theater portion of the building was removed in 1985, leaving only the front façade as a pointed reminder of its past. Today the upstairs serves as an apartment complex while the downstairs acts as home to local businesses. 

The Princess Theatre

Constructed sometime between 1905 and 1907, the Cantol Wax Company Building, also known as Oakes Manufacturing Company Building, stands as an example of many industries that thrived in Bloomington during the early twentieth century. The building's rubble limestone foundation speaks to Bloomington's bustling limestone quarry industry around the turn of the twentieth century. Moreover, the people connected to the Cantol Wax Company fled Mexico during its revolutionary movements, served as Bloomington Mayor, Governor of Indiana, and High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands. Though Bloomington's industrial growth can be tied to the railroad's arrival in 1854, the city's true commercial expansion evolved after the Civil War and then in earnest during the early part of the twentieth century. In the years leading up to World War I, Bloomington installed electric lamps, paved roads, erected a city hall, built two additional railroad stations, and added a water and sewer system. Construction of the Cantol Wax Company building, first known as the Oakes Manufacturing Company Building, occurred during Bloomington's peak population and industrial growth from roughly 1905 to 1915. Bloomington's industrial and manufacturing growth slowed after the Great War, but remained a thriving part of Bloomington's economy. During the 1920s, the town supported a host of manufacturing concerns, including furniture companies (The Shower Brothers Furniture Company produced 700,000 pieces of furniture annually at its Bloomington plant), machine works, glass and mirror makers, mills, clothing producers, dairy, bottlers, printers, stone cutters, Blacksmiths, bakers, and much more. The Cantol Wax Company building emerged during that peak period of commercial expansion, around 1905. It rises three and a half stories in its front section and two and a half stories in the rear. Along with its limestone foundation, the building enjoys terra cotta block walls and Classical Revival style design. The Oakes Manufacturing Company served as the structure's first occupant, having constructed the building. They employed roughly seventy-five people and manufactured incubators and possibly washing machines until they sold the building to the Cantol Wax Company in 1920. Harry N. Timolat, originally from New York City, started the Cantol Wax Company in 1909 near Bustamente, Mexico, where he extracted the juice of the candelilla cactus plant and used it to manufacture furniture polish. However, the revolutionary revolts led by Venustiano Carranza in 1913 resulted in the destruction of Timlat's plant, which forced him to flee to Lajitas, Texas. Four years later, in 1917, he established a new factory in San Antonio. While there, Timolat's daughter, Kathleen, met and married Paul Varies McNutt of Bloomington, Indiana. (He was serving in the army and stationed in San Antonio at the time.) In 1920, Timolat moved his business to Bloomington after forging an agreement to have the needed cactus shipped. In addition to serving as the Cantol Wax Company treasurer, McNutt had a high interest in politics. He served as the Indiana Governor from 1933 to 1937 and then (after his term ended) became the United States High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands. In the same year that McNutt took the job as High Commissioner and moved to the Philippine Islands with Kathleen, Timolat passed away. With Timolat's daughter and son-in-law far away, the company passed to Thomas L. Lemon, who had once worked for Timolat in an entry-level job for the company right out of high school. Lemon bought the company from the Timolat-McNutt family. Also, like McNutt, Lemon had an interest in politics; he served two separate terms as the mayor of Bloomington (1948-1952 and 1956-1962). Though he served as mayor, Lemon retained ownership of the Cantol Wax company until it folded in 1950.

Constructed in the early twentieth century for the Cantol Wax Company after their relocation from Mexico, this Bloomington building is connected to two high-profile politicians. Harry Timolet of New York created the Cantol Wax company in Mexico and fled the country after his original plant was destroyed during a revolutionary movement. While in Texas, his daughter married Paul V. McNutt of Bloomington and they moved the company to Indiana. McNutt went on to serve as Indiana Governor and then the High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands. The wax company's final owner, Thomas Lemon, served two separate terms as Bloomington Mayor. The company operated until 1950.

 Cantol Wax Company Building

Bloomington's first library opened around the town's founding in 1821 and operated within a single room located in the log courthouse. By the end of the nineteenth century, a movement existed in the town to create a much bigger library. As is the case with numerous towns in the U.S., funding efforts included a grant provided by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, which helped finance an abundance of libraries and public buildings.The wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie (1835 -1919) enjoyed a complicated relationship with laborers and the lower class. In 1882, Carnegie and his partner instructed people to use violence against steelworkers during the Homestead Steel Strike (workers sought better pay and improved working conditions), arguably one of the worst labor conflicts in American history. Seven years later, in 1889, Carnegie wrote "The Gospel of Wealth" where he expressed his views on philanthropy: "In bestowing charity the main consideration should be to help those who help themselves." He eventually contributed $333 million (ninety percent of his fortune), to projects that mainly funded public buildings and community projects, especially libraries. Indeed, more than $56 million of his wealth went to constructing more than 2,500 libraries. Carnegie deemed the public projects the "improvement of mankind." As early as 1897, two women's civic clubs led efforts to raise funds to construct a library in Bloomington; it took roughly two decades for their idea to manifest. The Sorosis Club attempted in 1897 to obtain a grant from Andrew Carnegie to help build a new library. The conditions of the grant stipulated that the funds would go towards construction, but the town had to provide the land and pay for the building's maintenance. However, when they included the proposal in the local referendum, it got lumped in with funding for a new courthouse and sewer system. The people ultimately voted to fund the courthouse and sewer system, but not the library. With the defeat of the Sorosis Club's plan, the Nineteenth-Century Club stepped in and reestablished the library in the new courthouse. A second attempt by the Sorosis Club to gain a grant from Carnegie emerged in 1915, with Carnegie first offering $15,000 and then $20,000. But, yet again, the proposal was overshadowed by another construction project. The town sought to build a hospital, and so the library proposal again failed to win public support. In 1917, the Library Board purchased land for $21,000 as part of the City Beautiful movement, and as was often the case, involved land that once catered to people of color; an all-Black school stood on the property purchased by the Library Board. The Board asked for $40,000, but only received $31,000 (Carnegie originally offered $28,000). Wilson Boyden Parker, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, designed the library building. The library included several features championed by Carnegie such as a large, semi-circular fanlight above the main entrance that alluded to the rising sun (a symbol of knowledge and enlightenment). The building also contained a basement with a large room intended for use as an auditorium for civic and cultural events. In contrast to typical Carnegie libraries, the expansive, unadorned sheer wall rising above the fanlight is reminiscent of the Egyptian style. Like many of Bloomington's historic buildings, the town took advantage of its nearby bustling quarry industry and used substantial (and costly) limestone blocks for the library's exterior. The library opened in 1918 with a collection of 2,000 volumes of books. From 1918 to 1929, Bloomington residents used the library freely, while country residents living outside the city limits paid a fee to borrow books unless their townships contributed toward the library's maintenance. In 1929, the library enjoyed enough financial health to provide free books to the entire county and even paid for such amenities as landscaping. Prior to the construction of the current building, this site was home to a public school for African American children. Before the Civil War, children of African American descent were usually excluded from the public schools of the state. In 1869, the state of Indiana passed a law to mandate “the education of colored children" and left the issue of integration or racial segregation up to local school districts. This location was home to the city's "Center School" which practiced segregation. White children were allowed to attend classes on the first floor while Black children received their lessons in an upstairs room. Because of population growth, a new school building was constructed. School leaders decided that the white children would attend the new school and Center School became known as the “Colored School” with a grand total of 54 African-American students attending in the year 1881. Schools in central and southern Indiana continued to operate segregated schools in a number of communities in the early 1900s even as most Midwestern communities ended the practice.   By 1915, the school property was sold to make room for the new public library that would take its place. By that time, the school’s numbers had risen to 93. These students and their 3 members of faculty would eventually transfer to the Benjamin Banneker School that opened on December 7, 1915. The historical marker on the corner of the museum property offers a short history of Center School and was installed in 2005 by the Indiana Historical Bureau, Bloomington Black Business &amp; Professional Association, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington. The community was one of the first to have books available for use by local residents, as the county courthouse acquired a collection of books in the 1820s and allowed resident to borrow from this collection. According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form, the decision to create a formal public library in 1917 was "the culmination of a long and tenacious struggle to bring literature and learning to Bloomington." That “tenacious struggle” began well before the 1915 purchase of the Center School location and was spearheaded by local women's civic societies such as the Sorosis and the Nineteenth Century clubs. In 1897 the Sorosis Club first attempted to gain an Andrew Carnegie grant, but because the ballot put forward that discussed accepting his offer at the local referendum also contained questions about funding a new courthouse and sewer system, the measure was quickly defeated. Another offer by Carnegie for $20,000 was placed on the table in 1915, but needs for better health facilities had won public support and overshadowed the quest for a library. It wasn’t until 1917, after the purchase of their new plot of land, that everything finally began to fall into place. Carnegie Corporation gave them a grant of $31,000 and by 1918, architect Wilson Boyden Parker had brought their vision to life.The basement evolved into a community center during the middle of the twentieth century. During World War II, the Red Cross volunteers used the facility for rolling bandages. A two-story rear wing was added in 1955 to accommodate the library's record, art print, and film collections. In 1970, after fifty-two years in operation, the building ceased functioning as a library. A 1947 renovation allowed the building to survive and since 1994, it has stood as the home to the Monroe County Historical Society (Monroe History Center).<blockquote>When the library opened its doors in 1918, it had a collection of nearly 2,000 volumes and served over 400 city patrons. It was still primarily a town rather than a county library. County residents had to pay a fee to borrow books unless their townships contributed toward the library’s maintenance. In 1929, the policy changed, and the library began serving a county-wide clientele.1</blockquote>The Carnegie Library would continue to serve the public until a new and more modern facility was opened on Kirkwood Avenue in 1970. It was then purchased by a nonprofit organization, The Old Library Inc. (TOLI) who renovated the building and, by 1980, had leased it to other nonprofit organizations such as the Bloomington Area Arts Council, the Monroe County Historical Society.TOLI eventually sold the building to its current owners, the Monroe County Historical Society, in 1994. They have since expanded upon the original building where they now exhibit both permanent and rotating galleries aimed at educating the public and preserving history for the generations to come.

This local history museum is located within the former Monroe Carnegie Library. Constructed in 1917, the building has been listed on the National Register of Historic places since 1978. The museum has called this building home since 1980, a move that allowed for a significant expansion of the museum's holdings. Monroe County History Center currently boasts 8,000 square feet for its many galleries and exhibits, a genealogy and local history library, museum store, and education room. On the corners of the property stand two historical markers for the “Colored School” - or Center School - which opened its doors to African American children from 1874 to 1915 during the era of segregation. The second marker commemorates the building's role as Bloomington’s public library from the building's construction in 1918 to the creation of a new central library in 1970. Bloomington was one of 2500 communities that built a library with Andrew Carnegie's support as he donated an estimated $56 million for library construction. Though the town attempted many times to acquire public support and funds to build a library from 1897 to 1915, it wasn't until 1917 that the project finally came to fruition. Prior to that time, the library shared space with the courthouse. The library used the building from 1918 to 1970 and since 1994, the building has served as Monroe County History Center since that time.

Monroe County History Center

Although permitted by law, the majority of Bloomington's school districts did not explicitly practice racial segregation by the end of Reconstruction (the late 1870s). According to William Reese's study of all Indiana schools, 31 of the state's 92 counties maintained separate schools in 1916. This number declined to 21 counties by the 1948-1959 school year.&nbsp;

Prior to 1874, white and Black students attended the city's Center School at this location. White students attended classes on the school's first floor while Black students of all ages were educated in a separate room upstairs. As the city's population grew, the city constructed a new school for area white students and this school was reserved for African American students. In 1881, there were 54 students attending the school. By 1915, this number had increased to 93 students. In this year, the Center School or "Colored School" as it was generally known, was replaced by the Banneker School at 930 West Seventh Street. That building is now a community center but retains its name which honors early Black inventor and author Benjamin Banneker. The elementary schools of Bloomington remained segregated even after the 1949 Indiana state law that required an end to segregated schools. By 1951, the school of Bloomington were integrated--three years prior to the US Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board that outlawed racial segregation in public school systems. 

Center School Historical Marker 

This monument was financed by veterans' groups in Monroe County and dedicated on the southeast corner of the courthouse in the heart of Bloomington as a memorial in honor of the sacrifices of local soldiers and of their families in past wars. The monument is named for Captain Williamson M. Alexander (1836-1921), a Civil War veteran who was active in raising the needed funds for the monument and died before the structure was completed. In recent years, local citizens have begun to raise necessary funds to restore the limestone reliefs, which have been badly damaged by time, weather, and pollutants. A regular weekly anti-war demonstration has taken place at the base of the monument for years, and the corner was also the site of recent Black Lives Matter protests that took place in the wake of the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd.

This Bloomington veterans memorial was dedicated in 1928 at the southeast corner of Bloomington's Courthouse Square. The monument includes a tall obelisk topped by a sculpture of a Civil War soldier, at the base of which are reliefs showing four scenes representing the conflicts commemorated in the monument: the Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War I.

Alexander Memorial

Bloomington's Soldiers of All Wars Memorial Marker was funded by the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic--a fraternal order created by Union veterans after the Civil War--and dedicated in 1928. The monument was designed by George W. Bunting and carved by Henry McIlveen and Josef Graf. The monument contains a statue of a typical Civil War soldier atop a large pedestal with friezes on each of its four sides that depict scenes from the War With Mexico (1848), the Civil War 1861-1865), Spanish-American War (1898-1901), and World War I (1914-1918. Near this statue is a 816-pound cannon removed from the USS Phoenix in 1864.

G.A. R. Civil War Memorial

The present Monroe County Courthouse is the county's third courthouse to occupy the public square. In the past, the courthouse was flanked by other public buildings such as the first county jail, firehouse, and public well. President James Madison, the nation's fourth president, established Bloomington in 1816 as the site of a seminary, an institution that grew and later became Indiana University. In 1818, with James Monroe as president, the Indiana General Assembly created Monroe County. The first Monroe County Courthouse, a single-story, two-room log cabin, was built a mere five days after the creation of the county. The community later used the cabin as a schoolhouse when the construction on the second courthouse, a brick structure, finished in 1826 (expanded and renovated during the 1850s and 1870s). The railroad arrived in Bloomington in 1854, a sign of the town's growth and the impetus for its continued growth. By the time the Civil War ended, the town's industrial expansion had coincided with a population boom that led to the city's incorporation in 1866. The public square where the courthouse stood enjoyed illumination from twenty-nine street lamps by 1880, and electric lights glowed from the courthouse roof in 1886. The commercial and population growth enjoyed by Bloomington peaked in the years leading up to World War I. In addition to the electric lights added to the courthouse, the city paved its roads, built a city hall, two railroad stations, added a water and sewer system, and made plans for a new courthouse — construction on the historic building that stands today finished in 1908.Significant renovations on the historic courthouse took place in 1984, allowing the building to survive into the twenty-first century. However, many of the other buildings erected in the square during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are long gone. The historic courthouse survives as a lasting reminder of the town's growth. Notably, the building speaks to Bloomington's commercial and population boom during the early twentieth century.

Constructed in 1908, the historic Monroe County Courthouse was completed at a moment that would mark the apex of the city of Bloomington's population owing to recent industrial growth. The first county courthouse for Monroe County was a two-room log cabin built at what is now the Courthouse Square only five days after the establishment of the county. As the town and county grew, Monroe County's courthouse structures evolved from a log cabin to a brick structure to this stone building. Numerous other public buildings once shared space in the square with the Courthouse, but now this building is all that remains. 

Monroe County Courthouse 

Founded in 1995 (it opened in 1998), the WonderLab Museum of Science, Health & Technology features 65 interactive exhibits for people off all ages. It is located in the entertainment and arts district of Bloomington and next to the B-Line Trail, which is used for biking and walking. As its name indicates, the museum's mission is to educate and inspire visitors about science, the natural world, human health, and how technology works. The present two-story building was constructed in 2003. The second floor features a natural science hall that has insects, amphibians and reptiles on display in replica habitats. In 2017 the museum plans to build a salt water aquarium with a coral ecosystem. Outside, there is a landscaped garden featuring native plants, vegetables and herbs, and a water feature.

WonderLab Museum of Science, Health & Technology

In 2011, the Indiana Historical Bureau approved a historical marker for the site of the original IU (then known as Indiana Semnary) campus, which was established in 1820 at what is now South College Avenue, just south of Second Street. The marker suggests a long-delayed recognition of the importance of this historical moment in the life of IU and of the state more generally. The historical marker is little seen by Bloomington residents--its location places it in a city park that is widely perceived as a haven for people from around the region who are without a home of their own, and it is perched alongside a busy road down which motorists typically travel at 30 mph or faster, making identification of the sign's content impossible. No identifying features of the original IU campus remain on this site, most of which is occupied by either Seminary Park or the parking lot of a Kroger supermarket.

In 2011, the Indiana Historical Bureau approved a historical marker for the site of the original IU (then known as Indiana Semnary) campus, which was established in 1820 at what is now South College Avenue, just south of Second Street. The marker suggests a long-delayed recognition of the importance of this historical moment in the life of IU and of the state more generally.

Seminary Square Historical Marker

The Wylie House was originally built in 1835 during the late Federal Period, reflecting styles carried west from Washington, Pennsylvania, by builder and owner, Dr. Andrew Wylie. The house itself is constructed of site-made brick and its foundation is made from locally sourced limestone. The restorations that were made to the house took place between 1961 and 1965, with Edward D. James and H. Roll McLaughlin acting as architects. Construction was performed under the direction of John Dickson, using vintage tools and material salvaged from a structure of the same period. Mary Brown Craig acted as the consultant for interior design and decorating. It is currently furnished as it would have been in the 1940s during its occupation by the Wylie family.The building is furnished with original pieces from Andrew Wylie's family and includes his personal library as well as art work and other artifacts belonging to the Wylie's. Before restoration intensive research took place and the results have provided excellent documentation both pertaining to the history of the family and Dr. Wylie, as well as the building and its construction. The records include original bills of sale for numerous items used in the building and also the original hand written contract between Dr. Wylie and the contractor.1Andrew Wylie was born in 1789, the son of an immigrant Irish farmer. He graduated from Jefferson College in Canonsburg in 1810, where he also served as a tutor while studying theology underneath his eldest brother, Rev. William Wylie. In 1812 he was both ordained as a Presbyterian minister and elected the president of Jefferson College. He would go on to serve as president of Washington College and receive an honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from Union College before accepting the post as Indiana College’s first president in 1829. Wylie took his wife Margaret and their twelve children with him.<blockquote>Wylie House has importance concerning its architecture, the early history of its area and education. The beauty and elegance of its Federal type architecture has been noted in the preceding item. One of the earliest examples of such architecture in its part of Indiana, Bloomington, was less than two decades old when Wylie House was built. Although the Daniel Stout House (Old Stone House), already on the National Register, was erected a short time earlier, it is located outside of Bloomington. Wylie House is among the few buildings remaining in Bloomington which have any connection with the 1830s. Moreover, it is the only important structure from this decade which has been carefully restored and is in an excellent state of preservation.1</blockquote>While acting as president, Wylie also taught moral and mental philosophy, political economy, and polite literature. Though his efforts, he not only managed to attract more students and expand the curriculum but, in 1838, Indiana College became Indiana University.<blockquote>“He established the college curriculum which has been changed and modified during the intervening years but which is still the basic curriculum of the present College of Arts and Sciences. He introduced a form of government for students which was progressive, as well as realistic, and which led to unusually harmonious student-faculty relations. He was the most articulate spokesman and publicist for higher education in the state for a period of twenty-two years. He was a successful defender of the University against eccentric forces that threatened to weaken or dismember it in the early days.” – Herman B Wells; “The Early History of IU as Reflected in the Administration of Andrew Wylie (1920-1851)”; address to Louisville’s Filson Club, November 7, 1960 2</blockquote>After the 1851 death of Andrew Wylie and the 1959 death of his wife Margaret, the house was sold by their children to Theophilus A. Wylie, the half-cousin of Andrew and a professor at Indiana University. It now belongs to Indiana University where free guided tours are given in an effort to share the history of the family.From a previously separate Clio entry by Brian Florist that was dedicated to material culture of items in the Wylie House parlor, one learns of a a small circular table with Margret Wylie’s china tea set. The set was gifted from her husband, Andrew Wylie. It is unknown where the tea set was purchased from or the price of the set. However, according to an article by George L. Miller that scaled the prices of ceramics from the 19th century, ceramic prices varied heavily between 1833 to 1855. The lowest recorded price in the article is 80 cents and peaks at about 1.30 dollars. (Miller, 1980). The price of the tea set is most likely in this range.The tea set is of a simple design. The set is made from porcelain and each piece is adorned with a thick gold rim around each of its edges. The set is comprised of a tea pot, tea cups and saucers, a milk pitcher, sugar container, a small handless cup with an intricate design painted on the front, and one plate. The plate is painted with initials of a Wylie family member and the date 1838-1888.During the 19th century, afternoon tea was a prominent part of culture and was a common pastime for men and women, women specifically. Each guest would receive a place setting of utensils, a saucer, a cup for tea, and a small plate. Desserts, salads, small sandwiches, and/or meats and cheeses would be served to the guests. The tea served most likely were Black or green teas. A correspondence between Maggie W. Mellette to Mrs. Louisa M. Biosensors (1887) reads,“I forgot to tell you that my party or ladies tea was a success in every way. I had the nicest tea they all said (ham, turkey, chicken salad, pickles, deviled eggs wrapped in bright paper, ice cream, different fruits cut together, 8 kinds of cake etc.) As they commenced tea I had John Wylie and Minnie to play soft music and that added".“Most pleasant way to take afternoon tea was to invite a few friends who all [knew] one another” (Lady, 1856). The Wylie women often spoke, in their correspondence, of gatherings they hosted or attended with their friends, such as the Ballantine, Dunn, and Kirkwood families. (All prominent families at Indiana University.) Margret Wylie writes to Louis Wylie in 1856, “Mr. McCalla was here to tea and we did not expect him. We sent over to the bakers and got cake &amp; cheese and crackers and we had a jar ofBlackberries.” In another correspondence between Maggie Wylie and Miss Lou E. Wylie (1859), Maggie writes,“Lib Dodds came up this afternoon and stayed to tea we had dryed apples and Blackberries butter and bread and meat and sasafrass tea. Ma is going to make some beer we think we will have company next Friday we want to have Cournel Bryant before he goes we will have Mrs &amp; Mr Kirkwood Mrs and Mr Ballantine Mrs and Mr Gilett Cournel Bryant and Mr Hopkins Mr Fisk and I don't know who else we are going to have oysters and fruit cake and Try coulard cake and pound cake I will write and tell you about it next week I wish you were here to help us."

The Wylie House Museum is a historic house museum owned by Indiana University that provides a glimpse into the home life of a family in the 1840s. The museum is also one of the oldest homes in Bloomington and offers a collection of early to mid-19th-century American furnishings, including many original pieces from the Wylie family. Letters and personal papers from the Wylie family can also be found in the university's archives. The Wylies were a prominent family in Bloomington, Indiana during the 19th century. The house was built in 1835 and was home to Indiana University's first president, Andrew Wylie. After his death, cousin Theophilus Wylie purchased the home and generations of Wylie family resided there until 1913. Now, the Wylie House is a museum restored to its original appearance and the museum staff work. to preserve and study the house, artifacts, and documents in order to provide a deeper understanding of Bloomington's early years.

The Andrew Wylie House - Wylie House Museum

The Home Laundry Company, built in 1922, sits in the historic Bloomington courthouse square, where twenty-one businesses operated in seventeen different buildings within a two-block area during the 1910s and 1920s. Home Laundry enjoyed the distinction as the last of those businesses in the courthouse square to close. The historic laundry building, which in recent years has served as a restaurant, consists of two significant commercial styles: a vernacular 1920s style and the Art Moderne style (the 1948 addition), which proved common in the wake of World War II. More significantly, the building stands as a monument to the abundant societal and cultural transformations that transpired during the early twentieth century, allowing laundry businesses to prosper. For example, progressive idealism included a focus on sanitation and cleanliness; commercialism and mechanization allowed more clothes to be purchased; women worked more and had fewer children; industrial advancements made cleaning clothes easier (but too expensive to do at home until the 1950s).  An array of new public services arose during the late Gilded Age and into the Progressive Era, including service-industry businesses. Next to automobiles, new technologies tied to refrigeration and machine laundering peaked during the Interwar Period. In addition, middle-class families (or nuclear families) enjoyed home delivery options during the Progressive Era when women increasingly entered the workplace (although many families with women who took more traditional roles relied on delivery services, too). Not only did more jobs exist for women (including at Home Laundry), but birth rates decreased dramatically, and public education increased by the turn of the twentieth century, all offering women more opportunities to work outside the home.Though Home Laundry emerged at a time when laundry services boomed, the history of laundering businesses in the U.S. dates back to 1835 when a New York company cleaned removable shirt collars and cuffs. Still, cultural changes and technological advancements (such as steam power) during the post-Civil War era allowed laundry companies to prosper. As a result, Bloomington's laundry business, including Home Laundry, mirrors the industry's national growth between roughly 1870 and 1945. By 1916, Bloomington supported nine laundry businesses, including Benjamin Franklin (B.F.) Leonard's Home Laundry Company. in 1911, B.F. Leonard (and his brother Boone) purchased the largest laundry in Bedford, IN, and named it the Home Laundry Company. Four years later, B. F. Leonard moved his family to Bloomington and purchased the New Method Cleaning Company; he renamed it The New Home Laundry Company. Leonard quickly established horse-drawn wagon pick-up and delivery routes, and by 1931, each delivery person drove a personalized laundry truck. In addition to catering to families, Leonard held contracts with many of the city's large institutions, including Indiana University — a contract Home Laundry maintained until the University installed its own laundry in 1941. The contract with the University prevented the company from folding during the Great Depression. By the late 1940s, the family added a one-story addition and then saw its employment peak at ninety persons by the 1950s.The success of the Home Laundry Company paralleled a national interest in public health issues and domesticity, which soared in the early 1900s. Furthermore, the increased mechanization and commercial culture resulted in more clothing availability than ever before (clothing stores and catalog services). As the public increasingly became aware of germs during the Progressive Era, a focus on cleanliness grew paramount. But, owning personal washing machines and dryers proved far too expensive during the early twentieth century. Thus, laundering services arose as a successful business during the late nineteenth century and lasted until World War II. Advertising from the Home Laundry Company illustrates the importance of the housewife as a consumer of these new services."Who 'll do the washing? Will you do it, Mrs. Housewife, and have red hands and a backache? Or will you send it to the Home Laundry? The "family washing" department is now the big thing in our laundry. The family washing service of our laundry is as good as the most particular woman can demand."Another ad from 1919 reads:"The cost is low, so low that no woman can afford to do her own washing if she counts her time of any value. Almost any woman who has tried modern laundry service will tell you this fact."Additionally, Home Laundry advertised in 1927: "Laundry Satisfaction with Economy! Isn't it the sensible thing to send your wash where efficient machinery and effective chemicals transform soiled fabrics into clean clothes?"Indeed, middle-class women entered the workforce in more significant numbers during the 1920s but mainly still did "women's work," both at home and in the workplace. Additionally, clothing production and manufacturing allowed people to purchase and own more clothing than ever before. Finally, a heightened awareness of sanitation and cleanliness made washing clothes a necessary chore. So, laundry services grew exceptionally popular. (The industrial advancements allowed laundry companies to wash clothes quickly and efficiently, too.) In short, to see the Home Laundry building today is to get a glimpse into a time of transition when washing clothes was done by hand to a task performed by machines, but before a time when those machines could be found in most households (or neighborhood laundromats).

Laundry service businesses grew during the early twentieth century as awareness of sanitation increased and technological advancements made mass-laundering economical. B.F. Leonard created the Home Laundry Company in 1922 catering to both private homes and large institutions such as Indiana University. By 1950, Home Laundry employed ninety people. The post-World War II era also saw a rapid decline in laundry businesses as home washing machines became readily available and affordable. Home Laundry remained in business until the 1980s. It proved to be one of the last businesses to close in historic Bloomington courthouse square, where twenty-one businesses once operated in seventeen different buildings within a two-block area during the 1910s and 1920s.

Historical Downtown Bloomington Walking Tour

Seminary Square Park

Introduction

Images

Sources