Grandson Donates Century-Old Journal
By Rachel Wells
In this photo taken Nov. 28, 2011, a group of city officials accompany Henry Berenz III, right, over the Miller Park Bridge in Bloomington, Ill., before Berenz presented city officials with archival material of the bridge's construction. The Nov. 28 presentation took place exactly 100 years after Henry Berenz Jr. wrote his last journal entry about the bridge, which was built under a $1,200 contract. (AP Photo/The Pantagraph, David Proeber)
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) – A little more than 100 years ago, Henry Berenz Sr. cashed a $300 check for 300 silver dollars, which he promptly poured into his son’s boot.
The money was the first payment from the city of Bloomington to Berenz and Sons Construction for its work on what would become the Miller Park Bridge, now a walking bridge but once a prime pathway for leisurely horse-drawn carriage rides across Miller Park Lake.
“I guess Dad wanted me to find out what that many dollars felt like, and how heavy they were,” wrote Henry Berenz Jr. in a journal his grandson, Hank Berenz, presented to the city of Bloomington and the McLean County Museum of History.
The Nov. 28 presentation took place exactly 100 years after Henry Berenz Jr. wrote his last journal entry about the bridge, which was built under a $1,200 contract.
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