John Y. Chisholm Building, Bloomington, Illinois
Image by myoldpostcards
John Yates Chisholm (1849-1918) was a prominent Bloomington businessman and real estate dealer. In 1888, he commissioned architect George H. Miller to design this Victorian Romanesque-style office building in the 200 block of E. Front St.
Miller, whose work has been seen throughout this McLean County series, delighted in the variation of colors and textures. Like many architects of the late 19th century, he was intrigued by the abundance of new ceramic products which were coming to market. The Chisholm building shown here was an early example of the use of terra cotta panels and other ceramics.
Miller believed businessmen wanted their buildings to be distinctive and be clearly distinguished from those of their neighbors. Both the Higgins Marble Works building next door (also designed by Miller and previously featured in this series) and the Chisholm Building are Victorian Romanesque-styles; yet the facades are quite distinct from each other. Today the Chisholm Building is a mixed use property with professional offices on the ground floor, and condominiums above.
The John Y. Chisholm Building is contributing architectural property in the Bloomington Central Business District listed in 1985 in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The district includes roughly twelve square blocks of the city and encompasses 140 buildings, 118 of which are contributing buildings to the district’s historic character.
Bloomington is the seat of McLean County. It is adjacent to Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington is home to State Farm Insurance, Country Financial and Beer Nuts. Illinois Wesleyan University is located here, while the neighboring twin city of Normal is home to Illinois State University and Heartland Community College. Bloomington is 135 miles (217 km) southwest of Chicago, and 162 miles (261 km) northeast of St. Louis. The estimated population of Bloomington in 2019 was 77,330, with a metro population of 191,067.
