Urbana Monument Square Historic District

Monument Square Historic District covers the core of downtown Urbana, Ohio, about 25 acres built around a public square roughly 250 feet on each side. Colonel William Ward platted the town in 1805 with this square at its center. It became a market center for the surrounding farmland, and a Civil War monument erected in 1871 gave the square its name. Around 70 mostly brick buildings, two to four stories tall, line the streets. They display Federal, Italianate, Second Empire, Richardsonian Romanesque and Georgian Revival styles, along with some eclectic designs. Examples include the c. 1811 building at 20 Monument Square, the large Second Empire Douglas Hotel of the early 1870s, and the c. 1889 Mosgrove Building. The streetscape is largely intact, with few intrusions and few vacant lots. Urbana has been the Champaign County seat since 1807, and the square served as its commercial, transportation and cultural focus, with hotels, markets, celebrations and the first classes of Urbana College.