Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #347 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
27 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1860.
Champaign dates its founding to 1855 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Champaign is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #347 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Champaign’s 3.0 sits above most of its state (70% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 27 listings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Champaign’s history is told.
Champaign’s post office has been open since 1860. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Champaign.
Champaign was founded in 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad laid its rail track two miles (3 km) west of downtown Urbana. Originally called "West Urbana", it was renamed Champaign when it acquired a city charter in 1860. Both the city and county name were derived from Champaign County, Ohio, which took its name from the French word for "open, level country".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Champaign, cut from the printed page as they were published.
fit to mankintl. particularly young America — read as follows: Deed of Gift This indenture witnessed, that I, Albert C. Burnham a widoweiof the City of Champaign, County of Champaign, State of Illinois, do hereby give and convey to tlie Board of Directors of the City Library of the City of Champaign, State of Illinois and their successors in office, the following described real estate to be held by them and their successors in office in trust forever as a site for
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
increase of his own subscription. He financed two strong efforts to locate coal at Champaign. He was an organizer and first treasurer of the company that built the railroad from Danville to Pekin, Illinois, and he also did much toward the building of the line from Champaign to Decatur. He was an organizer, one of the largest stockholders and treasurer of the Champaign and Urbana Gas Company. He was an organizer, large stockholder and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveBird's eye view of the city of Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois 1869
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltAlpha Phi Fraternity House-Beta Alpha Chapter is built
In the archiveFirst Church of Christ, Scientist
Born hereJames Tobin is born here
BuiltVirginia Theater is built
In the archiveUnique view of a huddle
Born hereSaul Perlmutter is born here
Born hereDavid Ayer is born here
Born hereMegyn Kelly is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Champaign. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Champaign.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1887Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Champaign’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,727 people in 1860 to 88,302 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Champaign’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1855, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Champaign’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1860 counted 1,727 people here.
Champaign is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #347 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
27 listings: 25 buildings, among them the Cattle Bank (listed 1975, the first), 1 historic district, the Champaign Downtown Commercial District,, and 1 structure.
11% of Champaign’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1985.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (27), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1909
