The House
Franklin Square Historic District
Franklin Square contains the homes of former Vice President Adlai Stevenson I and Governor Joseph Fifer. Franklin Park, the centerpiece of the district, was the starting point for partisan torchlight parades in the late nineteenth century. The park, named for Mayor Franklin Price, was donated to the City in 1856 by William Flagg, David Davis and William Allin. Many of the houses on the square were designed by architects Arthur Moratz, George Miller and Arthur Pillsbury. The park and bordering houses were listed on the National Register in 1976 and designated a local Historic District in 1979.
“This Queen Anne-style influenced house was built about 1897 for Dr. Ernest Mammen. Dr. Mammen was one of the oldest and best known physicians in McLean County. He was born in 1855 at Gummelstaide, in the province of Oldenberg in northern Germany. His family came to America in 1864, and settled at Minonk. He completed his medical studies in Chicago in 1884, and came to Bloomington that same year. Dr, Mammen was one of the group which worked for the founding of Brokaw Hospital, and he also was one of the first sponsors of the McLean County Chapter of the Red Cross. In 1943, the Mammen family sold the house to the Phi Mu Alpha (Professional Music Fraternity) at nearby Illinois Wesleyan University. It remains the fraternity's house today.”
Source: Liski, Randy von. “Dr. Ernest Mammen House, Franklin Square Historic District, Bloomington, Illinois.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 25 Apr. 2021, www.flickr.com/photos/myoldpostcards/51138128033/in/photostream/.