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56-550: Urbana ( / ɜːr ˈ b æ n ə / ur- BAN -ə ) is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois , United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area , which had 236,000 residents in 2020. Urbana is notable for sharing the main campus of the University of Illinois with its twin city of Champaign . The Urbana area

112-531: A Superior Court and Sheriff (as an officer of the court ), both located in a designated "shire town". Bennington County, Vermont has two shire towns; the court for "North Shire" is in the shire town Manchester , and the Sheriff for the county and court for "South Shire" are in the shire town Bennington. In 2024, Connecticut , which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending

168-485: A "Tree City" and to trees as landmarks or beacons. Mooney, an internationally acclaimed artist, is a native to Champaign-Urbana. The Urbana Indoor Aquatic Center 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 is a public outdoor pool. It is located on Broadway Street, across from

224-410: A county seat may be an independent city surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example, Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia and completely surrounded by Fairfax County, but the city is politically independent of the county. When the county seat is in the independent city, government offices such as the courthouse may be in

280-608: A different ward. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote. Urbana High School 's current building was built in 1914. It was designed by architect Joseph Royer who also designed many other area buildings such as the Urbana Free Library and the Champaign County Court House. The architecture is of the Tudor style defined primarily by the towers over the main entrance and flattened point arches over

336-647: A major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. There are 1,355 counties in Mainland China out of a total of 2,851 county-level divisions. In Taiwan , the first counties were first established in 1661 by the Kingdom of Tungning . The later ruler Qing empire inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of Han Chinese population in Taiwan,

392-467: A much larger and fancier structure, to ensure that the county seat would remain in Urbana. 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 Urbana-Champaign , opened in 1868 with 77 students. A number of efforts to merge Urbana and Champaign have failed at

448-541: A new name, Urbana Landmark Hotel, on December 1, 2012, but it closed in July 2015 and sold January 2020 for redevelopment as a Hilton Tapestry hotel. Carle Park, established in 1909, is located at Indiana and Garfield, just west of Urbana High School in central Urbana. Measuring 8.3 acres (34,000 m), it contains a statue entitled Lincoln the Lawyer by Lorado Taft and more than 50 well-established trees that are part of

504-475: A research-level collection on the history and genealogy of Champaign County. In 1987 it was designated the official repository for non-current Champaign County records. Although it focuses on Champaign County, the Archives holds extensive collections of works dealing with the rest of Illinois and those states that document the significant migration routes of the communities that comprise Champaign County. The CCHA

560-563: 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

616-578: 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 . The Urbana Dog Park, 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

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672-600: Is also home to the Local History Online database. Local History Online gives access to holdings (books and journals, Champaign County records, City of Urbana municipal records, newspapers, directories, school yearbooks, images, maps, oral histories, local organization newsletters, and other special collections) of the Champaign County Historical Archives, including digital content. The catalog is frequently updated. The library

728-618: Is an annual festival in Urbana. It was first held in August 1975 in the Busey Bank parking lot in downtown Urbana. It was a community event put on by employees of Busey Bank. Since then the Sweetcorn Festival has continued to grow. The Urbana Business Association is now responsible for the planning of the festival, over the years adding a local car show, an expanded family area, live music on multiple stages, food, vendors, beer, in

784-521: Is called Candlestick Lane because every year the residents decorate their yards for Christmas with a lot of lights and figures. The tradition began in 1961 (maybe 1960) as a house-decorating contest sponsored by the Illinois Power Company. The neighborhood used its prize money to purchase electric candlesticks for each home. The City of Urbana installs special red and green street signs, reading "Candlestick Lane" and "Grant Place" during

840-781: 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 primarily provided by the Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District , although limited service is available from Champaign County Area Rural Transit System and Danville Mass Transit , operators which primarily serve Rantoul and Danville respectively. The Norfolk Southern operates an east to west line through Urbana. The NS line connects industries in eastern Urbana to

896-409: Is known as the seat of its county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in the county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of

952-401: Is land and 0.07 square miles (0.18 km) (or 0.60%) is water. Urbana borders the city of Champaign . The main campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 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

1008-451: Is often difficult, since methodologies, definitions and data quality can vary greatly. Since the 1990s, the OECD has conducted regular surveys among its 38 member countries using a standardized methodology and set of questions. Per capita income is often used to measure a sector's average income and compare the wealth of different populations. Per capita income is also often used to measure

1064-610: Is publicly funded and receives additional support from about 600 people who have joined the Friends of the Urbana Free Library. FM radio AM radio Analog television Digital television (DTV) Print 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

1120-753: Is used in place of county seat. County seats in China are the administrative centers of the counties in the People's Republic of China . Xian have existed since the Warring States period and were set up nationwide by the Qin dynasty . The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under

1176-564: The Republic of China took over. There are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which function as county-administered cities , urban townships , or rural townships . In most of the United States , a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government

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1232-480: The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus lies in this city. It is a public land-grant research university and the flagship institution of the University of Illinois system . It is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States with over 50,000 students enrolled annually, giving Urbana a large student population throughout the year. The Urbana Free Library, one of

1288-583: 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 Urbana–Champaign . In Urbana, the pools in Freer Hall, formerly a 25-yard and 6-lane lap pool, and Kenney Gym have been closed and filled,

1344-690: 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

1400-517: The Eastern Han dynasty , the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure; in other words, it

1456-627: 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 is located southeast of the Race Street and Windsor Road intersection. The park covers 130 acres (0.53 km), 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

1512-1035: The Holiday season. The lights are turned on from around 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. from the third Saturday in December through New Years Day. The Market at the Square , also known as the Farmers' Market , has been a community event in Urbana since 1979. Every Saturday morning from some time in May to some time in November, dozens of vendors set up shop in the Lincoln Square parking lot in downtown Urbana. They primarily sell local produce (including corn, tomatoes, lettuce and watermelons), but one can also find local crafts, music, kettle corn and booths for various community and political organizations. The Urbana Sweetcorn Festival

1568-531: 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

1624-884: The United States, followed by Towson , the county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland . Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey , though unincorporated, is a section of Middle Township , an incorporated municipality. In some states, often those that were among the original Thirteen Colonies , county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, such as Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia . Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Iowa , Kentucky , Massachusetts , Mississippi , Missouri , New Hampshire , New York , and Vermont have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of

1680-472: 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

1736-415: The average family size was 2.06. The city's age distribution consisted of 11.7% under the age of 18, 38.2% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 13.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $ 35,984, and

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1792-500: The average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such as the American Community Survey . This allows the calculation of per capita income for both the country as a whole and specific regions or demographic groups. However, comparing per capita income across different countries

1848-567: 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

1904-418: The county, especially if it is geographically large. A county seat is usually an incorporated municipality . The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia , where the county seat is the entire county. Ellicott City , the county seat of Howard County, Maryland , is the largest unincorporated county seat in

1960-420: The county. Examples include Harrison County, Mississippi , which has both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats, and Hinds County, Mississippi , which has both Raymond and the state capital of Jackson . The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of civic pride for

2016-483: The doors. Not part of the Urbana School District, University Laboratory High School , locally known as Uni High, is a publicly funded laboratory school located on the campus of the University of Illinois in Urbana. It was founded in 1921. It is a research project of the University of Illinois College of Education. Urbana Middle School was first known as Urbana Junior High School in 1953. In 2003

2072-416: The early 1990s. University of Illinois Willard Airport serves the city. County seat In Canada , the provinces of Ontario , Quebec , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , and Nova Scotia have counties as an administrative division of government below the provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia the term "shire town"

2128-486: The first public libraries in Illinois, was founded in 1874 and is located in the downtown area. The historic building which houses the library was built in 1918. A major new addition was opened in 2005. The library houses historical archives of Champaign County, which can be used for genealogical research. Established in 1956, the Champaign County Historical Archives is a department of the Urbana Free Library that maintains

2184-479: The former redeveloped as research and teaching spaces. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign fields ten men and eleven women varsity sports. Urbana has been home to several separate minor league baseball clubs in conjunction with Champagin. The Champaign-Urbana Velvets played in the Illinois–Missouri League from 1911 until the league disbanded after 1914. The city's most recent minor league team

2240-422: The heart of downtown Urbana. In addition to corn and beverages, the festival has offered a range of activities and events, including a display of antique and other collectors' cars and volksmarches , arts events, a dog show, and a book sale organized by the Friends of the Urbana Free Library. The Urbana Lincoln Hotel is connected to Lincoln Square Mall, an indoor walking mall, in the center of Urbana. The hotel

2296-625: The independent city under an agreement, such as in Albemarle , or may in be enclaves of the county surrounded by the independent city, such as in Fairfax . Others, such as Prince William , have the courthouse in an enclave surrounded by the independent city and have the county government, the Board of Supervisors, in a different part of the county, far from the county seat. The following counties have their county seat in an independent city: Bedford

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2352-484: The median income for a family was $ 66,955. Males had a median income of $ 27,150 versus $ 25,511 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 25,365. About 11.4% of families and 29.1% of the population were below the poverty line , including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over. Candlestick Lane is the name of a neighborhood in eastern Urbana. This neighborhood consists of Grant Place and adjacent properties on Fairlawn and Eastern Drives. It

2408-620: The nearby village of Savoy they form the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area . As of the 2020 census there were 38,336 people, 17,295 households, and 6,680 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,220.97 inhabitants per square mile (1,243.62/km). There were 18,321 housing units at an average density of 1,539.32 per square mile (594.33/km). The racial makeup of the city was 51.61% White , 18.86% African American , 0.30% Native American , 18.26% Asian , 0.03% Pacific Islander , 3.57% from other races , and 7.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.52% of

2464-612: The new town was celebrated for the first time on July 4, 1833. Stores began opening 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. The city's first school was built in 1854. Urbana suffered

2520-499: The number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. Protestant missionaries in China first romanized the term as hien . When Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the Japanese system in the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 prefectures ( 州 and 廳 ), which remained after

2576-509: The polls. On October 9, 1871, a fire burned much of downtown Urbana. Children playing with matches started the fire. (It is unrelated to the Great Chicago Fire that started the day before, though both fires occurred during severe drought and were spread by high winds.) According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Urbana has a total area of 11.90 square miles (30.82 km), of which 11.83 square miles (30.64 km) (or 99.40%)

2632-411: The population. There were 17,295 households, out of which 17.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.57% were married couples living together, 8.99% had a female householder with no husband present, and 61.38% were non-families. 44.42% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and

2688-527: The school was renovated for space. The school currently serves 954 students from grades 6 to 8. The Elementary schools in Urbana are Leal, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Preston L. Williams Jr., Thomas Paine, and Yankee Ridge. Urbana Early Childhood School is the former Washington Early Childhood Center and is located on the Prairie Campus next to Dr. Preston L. Williams Elementary. Most of

2744-777: The state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the Lake and Peninsula Borough , has its borough seat located in another borough, namely King Salmon in Bristol Bay Borough . In Louisiana , which is divided into parishes rather than counties, county seats are referred to as "parish seats". In New England , counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. Rhode Island has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and Massachusetts has dissolved many but not all of its county governments. In Vermont , Massachusetts , and Maine county government consists only of

2800-416: The towns involved, along with providing employment opportunities. There are 33 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states: Alaska is divided into boroughs rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The Unorganized Borough, Alaska , which covers 49% of

2856-624: The use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the United States Census Bureau to a system of councils of government for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents. Two counties in South Dakota , Oglala Lakota and Todd , have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county. Their county-level services are provided by Fall River County and Tripp County , respectively. In Virginia ,

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2912-402: Was an independent city from 1968 to 2013, while also being the county seat of Bedford County . Bedford reverted to an incorporated town, and remains the county seat, though is now part of the county. The state with the most counties is Texas, with 254, and the state with the fewest counties is Delaware, with 3. Per capita income Per capita income ( PCI ) or average income measures

2968-607: Was designed by famed Urbana architect Joseph Royer in 1923 and opened several rooms on November 1, 1923, to accommodate guests for the university's Homecoming game. The original building was built in the Tudor Revival style. A convention center was added in the 1970s in the Bavarian style. While being forced to close twice between 1990 and 2009, the hotel was purchased by a private developer in 2010 and underwent major rehabilitation. The hotel opened under new management and with

3024-518: Was first settled by Europeans in 1822, when it was called "Big Grove". 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 M. W. Busey, considered to be the city's founder, and the name "Urbana" was adopted after Urbana, Ohio , the hometown of State Senator John W. Vance, who authored the Enabling Act creating Champaign County. The creation of

3080-676: Was the Champaign-Urbana Bandits who played during the single 1994 season of the Great Central League . The Bandits played at Illinois Field . Prior to holding postseason play, the league folded. The Champaign-Urbana Colts played in the Central Illinois Collegiate League from 1990 until the team folded in 1996. Urbana has Mayor–council government , of the strong-mayor form. The city council has seven members, each elected from

3136-583: Was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of a county was the magistrate , who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of the Qing dynasty . Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been

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