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Page last updated on September 7, 2021 at 1:26 pm

Listen in as Susan Dyar, Director of the Monroe County History Center, details how the Showers Brothers Furniture Factory's success and philanthropic efforts strengthened Bloomington's infrastructure, helped to develop new neighborhoods, and lent support to Bloomington’s continued economic growth.

Bloomington would absolutely not be the vibrant, welcoming city it is today had it not been for the Showers family. We are proud to support The Trades District as well as the renovation of The Mill, a coworking space and business incubator which will be utilized to grow and keep talent in Bloomington, representing the passing of the torch from one historic, community-defining job creator to another.

The Mill, located at Morton and 11th Street, was originally built in 1915 as part of the Showers Brothers Furniture Factory. At its peak in the 1920s, it produced 700,000 pieces of furniture a year, enough to fill 16 train-car loads a day. Producing more than half of all the furniture made in the United States, the company declared itself “the world’s largest producer of bedroom and dining room furniture.” In recent years, The Mill was used as a storage facility by at Indiana University and in 2011, the City of Bloomington purchased it, along with several other parcels of land. These 12 acres are currently being transformed into the Trades District, a certified technology park of which The Mill is the center of gravity for making, growing, and working in Bloomington and greater Indiana.

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