Market House
Built: 1866
Architect: Unknown
Style: Italianate (1840-1880)
About Italianate (1840-1880)
Italianate style commercial buildings featured low-pitched roofs, bracketed cornices, round and segmented arched windows with decorative headers, and recessed entrances. Sometimes known as Tuscan, Lombard, Round, or Bracketed, the versatility of this design made it almost a national style in the 1850s.
Address: 109-111 W. Monroe St.
Brief History:
1866 - Owned by B.F. Hoopes, the building was constructed to serve as a much-needed market house for the Bloomington area that would ideally bring all meat and produce sellers into one place.
1868 – Bloomington passed a law requiring all butchers to sell their meat in the market house. Controversy broke out over alleged violation of anti-trust laws due to one butcher, Jacob Wahl, not selling at the market house. The case made its way to the Illinois State Supreme Court. The law was overturned when it was found in violation of anti-trust laws.
1868-1875 – Home to the Pantagraph newspaper.
1909-1913 - Served as C.W. Klemm's Overall Factory.
1923-1925 - Second home office of State Farm Insurance.
1924-1944 - McLean County Farm and Home Bureau used the building and street corner to operate a farmer's market.
1946-1993 - Koldaire Equipment Co. took residence in the building
2024 – Golden Dragon on the left, Downtown Home Decor on the right, and Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies upstairs
Architectural Description:
Two story brick, Italianate style building with gabled roof.
The two floors follow a rhythmic window/door pattern of A-B-A-C-A-B-A
The windows of the second floor are adorned by arched brick headers and stone sills.
First story doors and windows are set in steel enamel panels and plate glass. These were changed to tile window bases and plate glass.
Third story gabled front features a Palladian style window, flanked by inset triangles of brick.
Bracket cornice rests atop paneled fascia.