History
On February 20, 1805, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Champaign County. The county’s name came from the French word for “level land.” The county was originally parts of Greene and Franklin Counties. Among the county’s earlier residents were the Swedenborgians, a religious group that established Urbana University.
The town of Champaign was founded in 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad laid its track two miles 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.
Three of Champaign County’s more prominent residents from the past...
Backwoodsmen Simon Kenton
John Quincy Adams Ward a famous sculptor (one of his works is pictured above)
Brand Whitlock Novelist, Progressive, and eventual mayor of Toledo, Ohio.
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Overview
Champaign County is predominantly rural, with less than one percent of the county’s 429 square miles consisting of urban areas. The county seat is Urbana. With a population of 11,613 people, Urbana was the county’s largest community in 2000. Unlike most of Ohio’s predominantly rural counties, Champaign County experienced an eight percent population growth rate between 1990 and 2000, bring the total number of residents up to 38,890. The county averages ninety people per square mile.
The largest employers in Champaign County are manufacturing businesses, followed closely by farming. Service industries, sales positions, and government are close behind the primary two employers.
Most voters in Champaign County claim to be independents, yet in recent years, they have supported Republican Party candidates at the national level.
Current
Today Champaign is a city of graceful art deco architecture, now powered by an economy closely integrated into the new realities of the knowledge revolution.
Reversing the trend to unbridled suburban sprawl, Champaign has recently embarked on an ambitious and successful campaign to revitalise its downtown core with the establishment of shopping, businesses, cafes and restaurants, and condominiums within a preserved architectural environment, creating a sophisticated urban ambience that sits comfortably with its staus as Silicon Valley mideast.
Champaign is no sleepy bedroom community.
Here are four interesting links that cover our local history from an older perspective...
Champaign
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