447 Area Code 🌍☎️

Champaign is a city in Champaign County in central Illinois with a population of 88,302 as of the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth largest city outside the Chicago metropolitan area. Founded in 1855 when the Illinois Central Railroad laid tracks two miles west of Urbana, it was originally called "West Urbana" before being renamed Champaign upon receiving its city charter in 1860. The city hosts the main campus of the University of Illinois and Parkland College, establishing it as a hub of the Illinois Silicon Prairie with numerous technology startups, while also serving as an office location or headquarters for Fortune 500 companies including State Farm, John Deere, Caterpillar, and Abbott, as well as Jimmy John's. Champaign is part of the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area with 236,000 residents and is known for hosting the first Farm Aid concert in September 1985 at Memorial Stadium, which drew 80,000 people and raised over $7 million. The city experiences a humid continental climate typical of the Midwest, with hot summers and cold winters averaging 24 days above 90°F and six nights below 0°F annually. Springfield is the capital of Illinois and the state's seventh-most populous city with 114,394 residents according to the 2020 census, located in Central Illinois near the Sangamon River along historic Route 66. Settled by European-Americans in the late 1810s, Springfield was originally named Calhoun after Senator John C. Calhoun in 1820 when John Kelly built the first cabin, but was renamed Springfield in 1832 and designated the state capital in 1839 largely through the efforts of Abraham Lincoln and associates known as the "Long Nine." Abraham Lincoln, the city's most famous historic resident, lived in Springfield from 1837 to 1861 before becoming U.S. President, leaving behind major attractions including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, his home, the Old State Capitol, law offices, and tomb. As the state capital, Springfield's economy centers on government agencies, healthcare, and state institutions including the Illinois General Assembly, Supreme Court, Governor's office, and the University of Illinois Springfield campus. The metropolitan area encompasses approximately 208,000 residents across Sangamon and Menard counties and features the mayor-council form of government typical of middle-latitude U.S. cities. Danville is the county seat of Vermilion County in Illinois with a 2020 population of 29,204 and serves as the principal city of the Danville micropolitan area. Founded in 1827 on 80 acres of donated land by Guy W. Smith and Dan W. Beckwith, the city was named after Beckwith and developed around early settlements advertised in Indianapolis and Vandalia newspapers. Danville became a major industrial hub in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, driven by coal mining starting in the 1850s (the "Danville Member" coal formation is named after the area's discovery), manufacturing growth that doubled the population between 1900 and 1920, and rail service as a freight and passenger hub. The city's historical significance includes visits by Abraham Lincoln over 18 years while practicing law on the 8th Judicial Circuit, the 1898 opening of a National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers branch that housed 4,257 veterans by 1910 with extensive facilities, and landmarks like the Fithian home (now the Vermilion County Museum) where Lincoln gave a speech. Notable features include St. Elizabeth Hospital, founded in 1882 from a hotel conversion by Franciscan Sisters, a Carnegie library established in 1904, and infrastructure innovations such as the city's 1883 horsecar streetcar system converted to electric cars in 1891.