The site is on the National Register of Historic Places and encompasses the old McLean County Courthouse and the courthouse-facing sides of three downtown blocks.

All 4 floors of the building are now occupied by the McLean County Museum of History for exhibits, collections storage, and offices.

[3] The rebuild of many buildings in the downtown was executed through the designs of several local architects, George Miller, Paul Moratz and A.L.

Until 1991, general county offices were still housed in the courthouse though the courts had moved to new facilities a few blocks away.

The east side of the public square was destroyed in a 1985 fire and today a contemporary office building occupies the area.

The building was originally built as a dry goods store which was operated by Edward Benjamin and John Shermerhorn.

During their early years the buildings, including the Dewenters building served as offices for prominent Bloomington doctors and lawyers, including William Ormes and Leonard Swett, who pioneered the insanity defense for accused criminals.

An estimated 40,000 visitors toured the building during the week following its grand opening with people coming from as far away as New York and California.

The Phoenix Block was so dubbed by the Daily Pantagraph as a remark on how quickly the buildings rose from the ashes after a fire in 1855.

His second floor office is the place where it is claimed that Jesse Fell first suggested to Abraham Lincoln he should run for president.

From the roof rise a limestone drum and a copper dome which are said to be modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Wanting to balance the feeling of symmetry with a sense of power Reeves and Baile created an identical hierarchy in each facade through the use of an entrance arch, enhanced vertically by columns and topped off with a pediment.

The Old Courthouse interior is composed of quadrants which are set apart by broad hallways which meet at the building's center.

It rises over 100 feet into the air and at the top features an allegorical painting representing peace and prosperity.

The halls have mosaic floors and wall treatment composed of white marble dado which is capped with antique verde serpentine stone.

Inside the rooms are sand cast plaster cornices and a variety of floor finishes which include mosaic, marble and maple.

Other notable architectural features include many beveled and leaded glass panels, scagliola door surrounds, solid bronze wall partitions, a number of original bronze, combination gas and electrical light fixtures and marble counters.

It is designed in the Italianate Style a has a pressed brick facade, arched windows and a dentil crown.

[9] The Ensenberger Building was designed by local architect Arthur Pillsbury in an eclectic interpretation of the Art Deco Style.

The building included a six-room, fully furnished Spanish-style bungalow on the seventh floor when it opened in 1926.

The WWII steel shortage stopped those plans and the terra cotta panels remain one of the building's most prominent features.

[10] This steel structured "skyscraper" was designed by Bloomington architect George Miller and is an example of Chicago Style architecture.

Above the first story the windows are flanked by pressed metal spandrels and the third through sixth floors are clad in red brick.

So eager were merchants to occupy the storefronts that several stores opened for business while workers were still constructing the second and third floors of the buildings.