Bloomington, Illinois

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McLean County, Illinois, is home to the city of Bloomington, which also serves as the county seat. The Bloomington-Normal metropolitan region includes both this town and the neighboring town of Normal, the latter of which has a larger population. To the southwest of Bloomington lies Chicago, while to the northeast of St. Louis is Bloomington 135 miles (217 kilometers). The city has a population of 78,680 in 2020, making it the 13th-largest city in Illinois and the fifth-largest city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Around 130,000 people live in the twin cities of Bloomington and Normal together. Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University are located in the Bloomington region. State Farm Insurance and Country Financial have their headquarters here as well.

Bloomington, Illinois, U.S. county seat since 1830, is a city in McLean County, Illinois. Between Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri, it is sandwiched by Normal (north). Originally known as Keg Grove, the property was renamed Blooming Grove due to the abundance of wildflowers in the region when it was first colonized in 1822. Bloomington was renamed in 1831, when the town was set out and called after it. A plaque marks the location where Abraham Lincoln gave his "lost speech" against slavery at a Republican Party conference in Illinois in 1856. In addition to farming (mostly maize and soybeans), cattle keeping, and the production of farm seeds, the city's economy also relies heavily on insurance, candy manufacturing, and vacuum cleaner manufacturing.

During the early 1800s, the Kickapoo people lived in a large grove near the Bloomington area. Before the first European settlers came to the area, the Kickapoo people lived in the grove. On December 25, 1830, when McLean County was formed, Bloomington was chosen as the county seat. It came from the town of Keg Grove, which later became known as Blooming Grove.

People flocked from all around to trade and conduct business in the town's core, which is now known as Downtown Bloomington, including Abraham Lincoln, who worked as an attorney in neighboring Springfield, Illinois. Jesse W. Fell, the founder of the Bloomington Pantagraph and a significant figure in local real estate, proposed the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1854 and was a driving force behind Lincoln's presidential campaign.

Ray and Irene Denbesten founded Denbesten Real Estate in 1977 in Bloomington, IL. Their daughter, Cathy Denbesten, now runs it. You may reach them at (309) 6662-4228 for assistance.

One of Illinois' fastest-growing urban areas is Bloomington and McLean County. Between 1990 and 2006, the population of the region increased by 28%. Bloomington's population grew by 15.7 percent in less than six years, according to a special census performed by the U.S. Census Bureau in February 2006.

Some 28.8% had children under the age of 18, 46.7% were married couples, 9.1% had a female householder without a husband, and 41.1% were non-families in 2010, according to the 2010 census data. A total of 32.6% of all households were made up of single people, and of them, 9.2% had a resident over the age of 65. There were 2.41 households and 3.12 families in the United States.

When the Grossinger Motors Arena opened in 2006, it was called the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. It is now home to the Bloomington Edge of the Indoor Football League and used to be home to teams from the Central Hockey League. This rink has been home to the Central Illinois Flying Aces of the U.S. Hockey League since 2014. It also hosts some games for the club hockey team at Illinois State University and youth hockey programs in the area. In total, the Coliseum has more than 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2) of space. The Coliseum has a fixed seating capacity of 7,000, but it can hold more than 8,000 for special events. When the facility is used as a theater with a retractable curtain, it can be set up to seat 2,500-5,000 people in a more intimate way. As long as the Coliseum has been open, it has been used for a wide range of events, from concerts to family events and trade shows.

The Ladies' Library Association founded the Bloomington Public Library in 1857. Membership fees and book contributions mostly funded the modest library. 105 West North Street, 1871 (which is now West Monroe Street.) Locals gathered $1,100 to revive the library when it closed due to lack of money in 1880. Mrs. Sarah B. Withers donated property for a new two-story library in 1888. The library was christened "Withers Library." in recognition of the contribution.

Many animals and zookeepers can be seen at Miller Park Zoo. Zoo inhabitants include a Sumatran tiger, river otter, Galapagos tortoise, Amur leopard, sun bears, reindeer, sea lion, red pandas, lemus, bald eagles, pallas cats and red wolves. The zoo has a lot of different things to see, like Wallaby WalkAbout, ZooLab, the Children's Zoo, Animals of Asia, and the Katthoefer Animal Building. New to the Zoo is the Tropical America Rainforest.

Five Masterworks, two Pops and three Chamber Orchestra performances are held each year by the Illinois Symphony Orchestra at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

A music major and several hundred IWU students use the Westbrook Auditorium every year. Every semester, a variety of musical performances are presented, most of which are free.

Miller Park Outdoor Summer Theatre, a Bloomington, Indiana-based amateur theater company, puts on two major plays a year.

It marks the 21st anniversary of USA Ballet. There are three performances a year in the McPherson Theatre on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.

An outdoor Elizabethan-style theater is part of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's summer offerings each year at historic Ewing Manor. In addition to the Green Show, wandering Madrigal singers, jesters, and other performers amuse the crowd before each performance.

Each March, the McLean County Arts Center hosts the Spring Bloom Arts Festival. Over 100 artists from a variety of mediums, including carpentry, glass art, sculpture, paintings, prints, photos, and handmade jewelry, are represented at this indoor fine art event.

Bloomington architect Phil Hooten created Ewing Manor in the post-Victorian period's Channel-Norman style, which was popular among the wealthy. Jens Jensen, who also built Springfield's Lincoln Memorial Gardens, developed the surrounding gardens. The Illinois Shakespeare Festival is held every summer in the theatre on the grounds.

In 1977, the Miller Park Pavilion & War Memorial was repaired, and in May 1988, it was re-dedicated. Red walkways surround the black granite monument, which display the names of Central Illinois people killed or missing in action during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

A Bell Sea Cobra, a Huey helicopter, and an F-14 Tomcat are on exhibit at the Prairie Aviation Museum.

Abraham Lincoln's friend and mentor David Davis was a Supreme Court Justice who was instrumental in his 1860 presidential campaign. A mid-Victorian style and taste model, the Davis Mansion was built in 1872. It has a coal stove, gas lighting, and indoor plumbing, and has been in the Davis family for three generations. The David Davis Mansion is a National Register Historic Landmark.

The former Montefiore synagogue building is one of Illinois' rare Moorish Revival structures and one of the country's oldest synagogues.

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If you want to learn more about the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, you can go Behind the Curtain with a group of people who have been trained. During the tours, you can see the building's neo-Classical interior design and learn about all of the changes and renovations that have been made to it.

Both groups and individuals may take a tour of Judge David Davis's 36-room mansion at the David Davis Mansion. Visitors may learn more about the history of the American West by examining items and tales related to the Davis family. Family history (with an emphasis on children), servant life, domestic life and technology at the beginning of the industrial revolution, and Victorian architecture are some of the specific topics covered.

The Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau runs Twin City Tours of Bloomington and Normal every month. The McLean County Museum of History is where the tours start and end.

Beer Nuts Brand Snacks are solely produced in Bloomington, Illinois. In Bloomington, there are two locations of the Beer Nuts Company Stores that give a video tour of the facility and the history of Beer Nuts Snacks.

There are two school districts that serve Bloomington. Bloomington Public Schools District 87 serves the city's interior, with one high school (Bloomington High School), one junior high school (Bloomington Junior High School), six elementary schools (Oakland, Washington, Bent, Irving, Sheridan, and Stevenson elementary schools), and one pre-school (Sarah Raymond Pre-School) (named for the first female superintendent for Bloomington).

Private schools in Bloomington include Corpus Christi Catholic School, Epiphany Catholic School, St. Mary's Catholic School, Trinity Lutheran School, and Cornerstone Christian Academy. Students from Bloomington may also attend Illinois State University's Metcalf Elm/Jr. School and University High School.

There are government buildings in downtown Bloomington, including those for the City of Bloomington and McLean County. There are also a lot of great specialty stores, bars, restaurants, and art galleries there, as well as government buildings.