Showers Brothers Furniture Company (ebook)

Argumento de Showers Brothers Furniture Company (ebook)

When the Showers family arrived in Bloomington, Indiana, the railroad had only recently come to town and a modest university was struggling to survive. Having spent the prior 18 years moving from place to place, the family decided to settle down and invest its modest resources to start a furniture company. The business proved to be extremely profitable and a stroke of good fortune for the small community. The company?s success strengthened Bloomington's infrastructure, helping to develop new neighborhoods, and the philanthropic acts of the Showers family supported the town?s continued development. The family?s contributions helped Indiana University through difficult times and paved the way to its becoming the largest university in the state. In this detailed history of Showers Brothers, Carrol Krause tells the story of a remarkably successful collaboration between business, town, and gown.

"This once dominant and still prominent building houses the story of a city's past manufacturing prowess, a downtown in decline, and an urban renaissance. The roots of that important story are now available in this written history of Showers." ?Mark Kruzan, Mayor of Bloomington, Indiana

Carrol Krause, a former member of Bloomington?s Historic Preservation Commission, writes a weekly column in the Bloomington Herald-Times.

"Krause brings writing talent, local knowledge, and professional familiarity to her narrative.... Ultimately, Showers Brothers Funiture Company serves as a history of Bloomington itself, telling the story of how an industry helped drive the development of one of the Midwest's most vital university towns." ?Bloom0Introduction
Showers family information
1. The Reverend and His Family
2. Showers & Hendrix
3. Legal Troubles
4. The Brothers Enter Business
5. The Booming ?80s
6. Death and Fire
7. Prosperity and Loss
8. Boom and Bust
9. Moving Towards Modernity
10. Houses and a Hospital
11. "The World?s Largest Furniture Factory"
12. The "Shop Notes" years
13. Another Beginning
14. Final Successes
15. Everything Changes
16. Legacy