A history of Normal,
since 1865
Postcards, papers and photographs of Normal from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The town was laid out with the name North Bloomington on June 7, 1854, by Joseph Parkinson. From its founding, it was generally recognized that Jesse W. Fell was the force behind the creation of the town. He had arranged for the new railroad, which would soon become the Chicago and Alton Railroad, to pass west of Bloomington and then curve to cross the Illinois Central Railroad at a point where he owned or controlled land. Most of the original town lies south of these tracks, with Beaufort Street as its northern limit, and some blocks west of the Illinois Central and north of the tracks. Fell, his brothers, and associates quickly laid out many additions to the original town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Normal’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District …, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Normal
See all 33 →
Normal, decade by decade
1990s
Nothing in Normal is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Normal has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Fairview Sanatorium in Normal, 1.1 miles away.
Normal and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - McLean County - Normal - ED 57-69, ED 57-70, ED 57-71, ED 57-72, ED … (1880) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (6) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.