BLOOMING GROVE TOWN HALL
Monona Drive at West Dean Avenue
In 1871 Nathaniel Dean, civic-minded Blooming Grove pioneer, donated property for a Town Hall "to be built there and maintained forever". In that year the red brick Blooming Grove Town Hall was built, and it continued to serve the community in a number of capacities for 96 years. But through the years the needs of the community had so changed that eventually the building was razed and only the community spirit was kept. Progress decreed its end in 1967, and now the building remains only in pictures and reminiscences. Not only were town meetings held in the one large room of the town hall, but also national, state and local elections, dances, and eventually church services. In addition, the Blooming Grove Grange organization used the facility in the late 1800's and, for a while, the Monona police station was located there. Some residents recall that it was used as a school room around 1916-17 when Nichols School was overcrowded and Allis School had not yet been built.