The 300 Block of W Elm St is located in the Urbana Historic district.  It is a block from downtown.  Currently, it is a mix of renters and home owners.  Most of the renters are grad students and recent grads.  Many of the original houses have been replaced with newer structures including two apartment buildings and a church. 

 

Cedar St (formerly Broad St.)
   
Cedar St. (formerly Broad St)

301 (now a parking lot)

Dr. and Mrs CB Warner lived here for a number of years.

 

Newspaper Articles: 

From Urbana Daily Courier, Nov 8, 1933.  (Resident at time a doctor)


<div style="text-align: center;">  </div>		 
E

302  (original residence) 

PACA Historical Survey 302.PDF

303 (no longer standing)

 

303 West Elm Street was constructed in 1900.  The first occupant was Isaac Littler, an engineer at Sheldon Brick Yards.

From 1906- _____ the John Hudson lived here with this daughter, Laura Hudson.  Miss Laura Hudson appears

frequently in the Urbana Daily Courier conducting "elegant" and "charming" entertainments and gatherings.  

This is a picture of the demolition the Ater-Jaques House (207) in 1999​.  The white house in the background is a view of the east side of 303 W Elm. 

303 W. Elm from the front. Image c. 2000.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
L

304

305

 
M

306

307  (original structure, converted to apartments)

307  W Elm St. was built sometime in the mid-1880s.  The exact date is unknown, but the first resident

was Joseph Coffin Pickard, an English professor at the university who wrote poetry and translated German.

  He and his wife moved into the house in the mid-1880s.  Based on mentions of him in The Daily Illini

he was liked by students but regarded as tough professor. He had students over to his house for dinner

parties fairly often.  He left the university unhappy with the direction it was going in.

 

Members of the Busey family moved in next.  Matthew W Busey was the son of Simeon Busey and nephew of Samuel T Busey,

founders of Busey Bank.  Matthew, his wife Katherine, and their two children lived in the house for roughly

10 years until their house was built. 

 

After the Busey's moved out, a number of people moved in and out.  It was converted into apartment in

1942.  And remains divided into five apartments today.

  

308

309

 
S

310

311 (original structure still standing)

311 W Elm Street is one of the few remaining pre-Civil War houses still standing in Urbana.  

 

 

William Park, an key figured in the early industrial development of Urbana, built this house in 1856 and lived

there through the 1880's. Park built and owned the first local steam saw and grist mill in 1850.

His other holdings included the local woolen mills and the Urbana Street Railway.

 
T

312

 
Birch Street

 

 
Birch St.

 

Edit tags