100 years ago: Former cigar factory to become apartments | Briefs

May 17, 1920: The former Fred Smith cigar factory on West Olive Street is giving way to progress. Smith quit making cigars and moved to Iowa, selling out the business, but eventually moved back. The new owner is converting the former cigar factory into apartments.

May 17, 1945: The second trailer of a double-tandem semi came unhooked as it neared the Mackinaw River bridge near Lexington. It flipped and burned, destroying 4,000 gallons of gasoline. A secondary accident at the scene resulted in minor injuries to a Meadows man.

May 17, 1970: The IWU trustees have re-named Franklin Hall, a men’s dorm, in memory of Ned Dolan. Dolan, of Bloomington, was a long-time chairman of the trustees and secretary-treasurer of the Pantagraph Printing a Stationery Co. He died three months ago.

May 17, 1995: Results are in from last fall’s special census, and it shows 57,707 people living in Bloomington. That’s 11.2 percent more than were counted in the 1990 census. More people mean more money for the city, as motor fuel tax dollars come back from Springfield.