Bloomington is the home to Indiana University Bloomington. Established in 1820, IU Bloomington has 45,328 students, as of September 2021, and is the original and largest campus of Indiana University Most of the campus buildings are built of Indiana limestone.
Why is Bloomington Indiana called the gateway to southern Indiana?
According to the Monroe County History Center, Bloomington is known as the "Gateway to Scenic Southern Indiana.". The city was established in 1818 by a group of settlers from Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia who were so impressed with "a haven of blooms" that they called it Bloomington.