Urbana (Images of America)

Established in 1833 as the judicial seat of Champaign County, Urbana is a city of majestic old trees, pleasant parks, and stately historic residences. Today it is home to more than 40,000 people and counts nationally known film critic Roger Ebert and several Nobel Prize laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners among its former residents. The city’s urbanization began in 1854 with the arrival of the Illinois Central Railroad. In the 1850s, Abraham Lincoln was a frequent visitor as a young lawyer on the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Today the city is best known as home of the University of Illinois, a world-class educational and research institute and the state’s first land grant university. Originally a small agricultural town on the prairie, Urbana is proud bearer of the title Tree City USA, and in 2007, West Urbana was named one of the nation’s 10 Great Neighborhoods.