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.

The other buildings in the district were built between 1842 and 1942 and are primarily commercial.

Bloomington's commercial core grew rapidly during the 1850s and 1860s after two railroads opened in the city; while the 1854 Gridley Bank is the only surviving pre-1857 building from this period, several more remain from the later part of the boom.

Several buildings in the district date from the rebuilding period of the early 1900s.

[3] The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 1985.