1896

Years:	1893 1894 1895 – 1896 – 1897 1898 1899

Significant events from 1896.

February

• Maude Showers sells a lot on the corner of 10th Street and Washington Street to Harry Axtell for $1000. Axtell planned a new residence on the lot.

March

• 12th - A fire sweeps through the west side of The Square.

• 21st - The Chicago & Bedford Stone Company's quarry, the Blue Hole, is sold at sheriff's sale.

April

• 11th - Two boys discover a large and beautiful cave on the farm of C. C. Whisnand, 8 miles south of town.

• 13th - The two lots of the Seward Foundry are sold to settle the affairs of the late James Seward. The Showers Brothers purchase the property.

June

• 20th - Shots are fired during a quarrel on the levee. A Mrs. Stockwell fired three shots at a Mrs. Strother, without effect.

• 20th - William Moore, Henry Teague, and Harrigan Brassfield, three farmers of Indian Creek Township, are involved in a buggy accident. Teague, the driver, loses control of his horses descending a steep hill west of Buena Vista. None of the farmers are fatally injured.

July

• The F. J. Marxson cigar store on the east side of The Square closes.

• Max Lorch, a wealthy merchant of Louisville, purchases the Fair store.0

• A house owned by Joe Cline on West Kirkwood Avenue catches fire. Two passersby kick in the front door and save the sleeping family.

• 13th - The Waldron & Hill Spoke Factory resumes operations after several months of suspended animation.

• 21st - The home of John Burton, on the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Maple Street, is destroyed by fire.

• 23rd - The home of William Stogsdale, west of Ellettsville, is destroyed by fire.

• 27th - A Mrs. Christy, or possibly Nettie Chrisman, in Modesto becomes the victim of a whitecapping. The whitecaps whip the woman severely, burn her house, and order her to leave the neighborhood.

• 27th - William Spaulding fatally stabs David White in a drunken altercation at the corner of Grant Street and Kirkwood Avenue.

August

• John Schobel trades his 24-acre farm west of town to Henry Alexander for a house on west 6th Street. Both properties were valued at $1,700.

• Bicycle merchants the Harbaugh Brothers purchase the bicycle shop of Rawlins & East, making them the only bicycle sellers of Bloomington.

• 1st - Quarry workers at the Consolidated Stone Company go on strike after being asked to take a 10% pay cut.

October

• The Henry & Kerr Bakery opens for business on the southeast corner of The Square.

• John Waldon announces plans for a new armory building for Co. H, on a lot he owns at the corner of 7th Street and Madison Street, opposite the Collins & Karsell Mill. It will be 40x80, one story with hard wood floors, and will cost $1,000.

• George W. Walker sells his interest in the New Method Laundry to Stephen McPhetridge.

Unspecified

• The Marching Hundred is established with 22 members