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CHAMPAIGN HISTORY

The History of Champaign, Illinois
Documenting the people, places and events that have shaped our City's history. 
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    Neil Street or Eleventh Street?
    TJ Blakeman
    • Dec 23, 2021
    • 11 min

    Neil Street or Eleventh Street?

    Street Renaming Plan Throws the Streets of Champaign into Chaos! On August 12, 1913, a simple nine to two vote by the Champaign City...
    694 views0 comments
    15 East Main Street - Willis Department Store, JC Penney's, and News-Gazette Headquarters
    TJ Blakeman
    • Jan 30, 2019
    • 7 min

    15 East Main Street - Willis Department Store, JC Penney's, and News-Gazette Headquarters

    If you ask the casual observer how old the current News-Gazette headquarters is, their answer would likely reflect the modern look of the...
    1,715 views0 comments
    33 East Main Street - Jos. Kuhn & Company
    TJ Blakeman
    • Jan 6, 2018
    • 4 min

    33 East Main Street - Jos. Kuhn & Company

    Born in Greenstadt Germany on April 14, 1837, Jos. Kuhn arrived in the United States at age 19. He arrived by way of Louisiana where he...
    1,616 views0 comments
    29 East Main Street
    TJ Blakeman
    • Jan 2, 2018
    • 2 min

    29 East Main Street

    You may have passed by 29 Main Street and never gave it a second glance. Aside from the amazing drum shop, Skins N' Tin's, which...
    479 views0 comments
    30 East Main Street - First National Bank
    TJ Blakeman
    • Jan 2, 2018
    • 7 min

    30 East Main Street - First National Bank

    The first building constructed on this parcel was a small wood frame commercial building that is depicted in the 1858 Urbana-West Urbana...
    922 views2 comments
    2 Main Street
    TJ Blakeman
    • Dec 22, 2017
    • 3 min

    2 Main Street

    There have been two buildings constructed at this address since 1850, The Gazette Building and The Kresge Building. The Gazette Building...
    328 views0 comments
    1 East Main Street
    TJ Blakeman
    • Dec 22, 2017
    • 2 min

    1 East Main Street

    There is no better place to start this blog than 1 Main Street.  The first building constructed on this site was Barrett Hall and was one...
    528 views0 comments

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