Illini 411: Where did the trolley run on campus?

(Image by Dana Smith)

A: In the university’s early years, a full-service, horse-drawn streetcar connected Champaign and Urbana, and ran right through the heart of campus. By 1890, it had evolved into an electric trolley known as the “Champaign & Urbana Street Railway.” In 1909, its Green Street route shifted and cut straight across the Main Quad, entering north of the English Building, and exiting south of Noyes Lab. (That’s why the sidewalk there is so wide!) But with changing tastes and an increase in car ownership, the trolley eventually fell from popularity. It made its last stop in 1936.

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