Normal, a town which is only really distinguishable from its twin-city
Bloomington by Zip Codes and Phone exchanges, is really a quaint little place. Three major High Schools (
Normal Community High School,
Normal West Community High School, and
University High School) as well as
Illinois State University are located in Normal.
While the name of the city is "Normal", that name is far from it. The name originated because
Illinois State University was the state's first public university (founded in 1857) and it was a
normal school (teacher training school). ISU still has a good teaching program.
It is located a little under two hours from
Chicago; under three hours from
St. Louis and
Indianapolis; and
a long damn way from any ocean. (
your mileage to these cities won't vary, but your travel time will).
One of Normal's few claims to fame is
Steak 'n Shake, which was founded there in
1934. While some may argue that this was a
very bad thing, most who have been to one seem to agree that they're pretty decent. The very first Steak 'n Shake restaurant was open until the late 90's when it closed.
The township is
served and protected by the
Normal Police which do not, as one might think, enforce
normalcy any more than the police in
Fashion Heights, Ohio enforce good taste in clothing. As one might expect, there is no end to the
cheesy jokes and really bad puns caused by a city named "Normal."
Location: 40° 31' N; 88° 60' W
Elevation: 800 feet
County: McLean
Population (2000): 45,386 (15,157 housing units)
Area: 12.6 sq mi (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 61761
Area Code: 309
Interstates: 55,
74,
39
Sources: http://www.census.gov -- http://www.placesnamed.com/n/o/normal.asp -- http://normal.areaconnect.com/