Bloomington, IN

Discover Bloomington

Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. 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.The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census. The city's population was estimated at 85,755 as of July 2019 by the U.S. Census Bureau.Bloomington is the home to Indiana University Bloomington. Established in 1820, IU Bloomington has 49,695 students, as of September 2016, and is the original and largest campus of Indiana University. Most of the campus buildings are built of Indiana limestone. Bloomington has been designated a Tree City for 32 years, as of 2015. The city was also the location of the Academy Award–winning 1979 movie Breaking Away, featuring a reenactment of Indiana University's annual Little 500 bicycle race. Monroe County's famous limestone quarries are also featured in the movie.