Urbana, Illinois

The Urbana area was first settled by Europeans in 1822,[5] when it was called "Big Grove".[6] When the county of Champaign was organized in 1833, the county seat was located on 40 acres of land, 20 acres donated by William T. Webber and 20 acres by Col. M. W. Busey, considered to be the city's founder, and the name "Urbana" was adopted[5] after Urbana, Ohio, the hometown of State Senator Joseph Vance.[6] The creation of the new town was celebrated for the first time on July 4, 1833.[6]

Stores began opening beginning in 1834. The first mills were founded in c.1838-50. The town's first church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the parsonage, was built in 1840 by the Rev. A. Bradshaw, with the Baptist Church following in 1855. The Presbyterian Church was founded in 1856.[7] The city's first school was built in 1854.[5]

Urbana suffered a setback when the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad, which had been expected to pass through town, was instead laid down two miles west, where the land was flatter. The town of West Urbana grew up around the train depot built there in 1854, and in 1861 its name was changed to Champaign. The competition between the two cities provoked Urbana to tear down the ten-year-old County Courthouse and replace it with a much larger and fancier structure, to ensure that the county seat would remain in Urbana.[6]

Champaign-Urbana was selected as the site for a new state agricultural school, thanks to the efforts of Clark Griggs. Illinois Industrial University, which would evolve into the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, opened in 1868 with 77 students.[6]

A number of efforts to merge Urbana and Champaign have failed at the polls.[6]

On October 9, 1871 a fire burned much of downtown Urbana.[8] Children playing with matches started the fire.[9] (It is unrelated to the Great Chicago Fire, though both fires occurred during severe drought and were spread by high winds.)

Downtown Urbana is located southwest of the intersection of its two busiest streets: U.S. 150 (University Avenue) and U.S. 45 (Vine Street-Cunningham Avenue).

Most of Urbana lies south of I-74. There are three exits (from west to east): Lincoln (I-74 milepost 183), Cunningham (184) and University (185). The Lincoln exit is closest to the University of Illinois, while the Cunningham exit goes to downtown Urbana. The University exit goes to downtown Urbana as well as Illinois Route 130 to Philo.

Local bus service is provided by the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District.

The Norfolk Southern operates an east to west line through Urbana. The NS line connects industries in eastern Urbana to the Norfolk Southern main line at Mansfield, Illinois, west of Champaign. The line now operated by Norfolk Southern is the former Peoria & Eastern Railway, later operated as part of the Big Four (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway), New York Central, Penn Central, and Conrail systems, being sold by Conrail to Norfolk Southern in 1996. Construction of the line was begun by the Danville, Urbana, Bloomington and Pekin Railroad. This short-lived entity became part of the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railway before the railroad was completed. A branch line of the Norfolk and Western Railway (formerly the Wabash Railroad) used to connect Urbana with the main line from Danville to Decatur at Sidney, Illinois, but this was first rerouted and later closed in the early 1990s.

Willard Airport serves the city.

As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 36,395 people, 14,327 households, and 6,217 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,468.3 people per square mile (1,339.6/km²). There were 15,311 housing units at an average density of 1,459.1/sq mi (563.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.01% White, 14.34% African American, 0.18% Native American, 14.24% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.76% from other races, and 2.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.54% of the population.

There were 14,327 households, out of which 20.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 56.6% were non-families. 36.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 14.9% under the age of 18, 36.2% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 13.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,819, and the median income for a family was $42,655. Males had a median income of $32,827 versus $26,349 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,969. About 13.3% of families and 27.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.5% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.

Urbana has Mayor-Council government, of the strong-mayor form. The city council has seven members, each elected from a different ward. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote.

Urbana is located at 40°6′35″N 88°12′15″W (40.109665, −88.204247).[12] According to the 2010 census, Urbana has a total area of 11.69 square miles (30.28 km²), of which 11.65 square miles (30.17 km²) (or 99.66%) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) (or 0.34%) is water.[13]

Urbana borders the city of Champaign. The main campus of the University of Illinois is situated on this border. Together, these two cities are often referred to as Urbana-Champaign (the designation used by the University) or Champaign-Urbana (the more common usage, due to the larger size of Champaign). With the nearby village of Savoy they form the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area.

Carle Park

Carle Park,[33] established in 1909, is located at Indiana and Garfield, just west of Urbana High School in central Urbana. Measuring 8.3 acres (34,000 m²), it contains a statue entitled Lincoln the Lawyer by Lorado Taft and more than 50 well-established trees that are part of the Hickman Tree Walk. The Lincoln statue was previously sited in front of the Urbana Lincoln Hotel, but was moved after only a few months.

Meadowbrook Park[34] is located southeast of the Race Street and Windsor Road intersection. The park covers 130 acres (0.53 km²), including 80 of recreated Illinois tallgrass prairie. Around the prairie restoration center of the park loops three miles of wide concrete path suitable for walking, running, and bicycling. In addition, for an off the beaten path experience, the park offers two miles of unpaved trails which wind through the prairie grass. Several small hills make the path unsuitable for inexperienced inline skaters. The path is adorned by about twenty large sculptures from local artists. A playground, shelter, and parking lot are located near the Windsor Road entrance. A community garden, an herbal garden, the Timpone Ornamental Tree Grove and a shelter are located near the Race Street entrance. The park also contains many streams which are among the first tributaries of the Embarras River.

Lincoln the Lawyer by Lorado Taft

The Urbana Dog Park,[35] located on East Perkins Road, is a place to walk one's dog without a leash.

The Anita Purves Nature Center, located on the north end of Crystal Lake Park, offers nature education programs.

The ART IN THE PARK, just north of the Urbana City Hall (400 S. Vine St.) dedicated October 2012, took 22 years of struggle and efforts of three mayors. The environmental and sculptural artists/curator of the park, John David Mooney designed the plantings, walkways, a 12-foot high fountain sculpture (Falling Leaf), and a 33-foot high light sculpture (Spirit Tree). The Spirit Tree specifically gives new meaning to Urbana's designation as a "Tree City" and to trees as landmarks or beacons. Mooney, an internationally acclaimed artist, is a native to Champaign-Urbana.[36]

To find about the other parks and recreational areas in Urbana, see Urbana Park District Facilities

The Urbana Indoor Aquatic Center[37] is a public indoor pool operated by the Urbana Park District and Urbana School District. It is located between Urbana High School and Urbana Middle School.

Crystal Lake Pool[38] is a public outdoor pool. It is located on Broadway Street, across from the Anita Purves Nature Center. It was closed after the summer 2008 season due to deteriorating conditions and concomitant safety issues, it was rebuilt and reopened in 2013.

Campus Recreation Center East (CRCE) has an indoor leisure pool with a hot tub. CRCE is owned by the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[39] In Urbana, the pools in Freer Hall, formerly a 25-yard and 6-lane lap pool, and Kenney Gym have been closed and filled, the former redeveloped as research and teaching spaces.[40]

Film

• In the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Urbana was named as the location where the malfunctioning HAL 9000 computer of the ill-fated Discovery Mission to Jupiter was programmed.
• The 1959 comedy Some Like it Hot also mentions Urbana. Near the beginning of this film, Jack Lemmon's character, an unemployed bass player, suggests to Tony Curtis, a saxophone player, that the two visit Urbana to play at the University of Illinois. Instead, the two musicians elected to join a women's band in Florida.
• Urbana provides the setting for Bert I. Gordon's 1957 science fiction film, Beginning of the End. Parodied on the television program, Mystery Science Theater 3000, this movie features the unintentional creation of dangerous, giant grasshoppers as a result of agricultural research gone awry.

Literature

• University of Illinois English Professor and National Book Award winner Richard Powers set his novel Galatea 2.2 at the multidisciplinary Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. In Powers' novel Plowing the Dark, the Realization Lab's 'Cavern' virtual reality machine seems to be set in the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University, where the CAVE environment was first developed.
• Spanish writer Javier Cercas uses Urbana as the geographical background for two of his novels, "La velocidad de la luz" (2005) and "El inquilino" (1989).

Urbana is twinned with three sister cities:

• Zomba, Malawi[41]
• Haizhu, Guangzhou, China
• Thionville, France

The city of Urbana has been awarded a major grant from Sister Cities International to undertake a trilateral pilot project involving Urbana, Zomba, Malawi, and the Haizhu District, China. The one-year Sino-African Initiative grant is for up to $100,000 and will involve a collaborative effort to improve the municipal waste disposal system in Zomba, a city of 88,000 in southeast Africa. Urbana has had a Sister City relationship with Zomba since 2008, another relationship with Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, China since 2012, and added a third sister city charter with Thionville, France in 2014. Urbana is one of only three cities in the United States to be awarded a Sino-African grant. The others are Denver and an Asheville/Raleigh, N.C., joint team application.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Urbana, Illinois.

• City of Urbana (official website)
• Urbana Free Library
• Champaign-Urbana Historic Built Environment Digital Image Collection
• Urbana Park District – local parks, pools, and other recreation
• Early History of Urbana City
• Urbana Business Association
• Champaign Democrat, Google news archive. —PDFs of 1,286 issues, dating from 1887 through 1916.