Champaign is 164 years old today. The city was chartered on March 25, 1860 “when the Illinois Central Railroad placed its tracks two miles west of downtown Urbana.” Champaign was originally called West Urbana and it was renamed Champaign when it acquired a city charter in 1860. Both the city and county name were derived from Champaign County, Ohio. You can learn more about Champaign on the website for the City of Champaign.
