Champaign

Formed March 1, 1805 (21^st county)

Champaign County (38,707), Urbana (11,135)                

A red brick Modern courthouse was erected in 1956 to serve Champaign County.  Champaign County was formed on March 1, 1805 from parts of Greene and Franklin counties as the 21^st county.  The building sits on Main Street and Market Street.  United States Highway 68 is Main Street in the town.  Philip T. Partridge provided the courthouse designs.  The structure features columns and veteran memorials.  A classic 1882 version preceded the current courthouse also in Urbana, the only county seat.  The county name is French for “plain.”  The county seat is named for Urbanna, Virginia. 

Champaign County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Three Common Pleas Court Judges serve Champaign County.  The county is in the western part of the state.  Columbus, Ohio is east and Dayton, Ohio is southwest of the county.  The county center is in Urbana .6 miles North-Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Logan, Union, Madison, Clark, Miami, and Shelby counties. 

The area of the county is 428.6 square miles.  It is 47 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 63 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 90.3 persons per square mile making it 61 out of 88 in the state.  Champaign County has 44.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 36 crosses through the county from east to west from Union County to Miami County.  United States Highway 68 passes north to south from Logan County to Clark County.  The county is overall rectangular.  Urbana is located near the center of the county.  Urbana is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 28.8% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SHAM-PAEN.  This county is in the Urbana Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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