About the Champaign County Historical Society
The Historical Society museum collects, preserves, and interprets artifacts, documents, and other resources from Champaign County to educate current and future generations about our history.

The museum has been located at 809 East Lawn Ave., Urbana, since 1972. Originally established in 1934, the museum first housed its collection at the former location of the Champaign County Library on West Market Street, and then moved to the Nutwood Barn, south of Grimes Field on North Main Street.
The museum is open to the public 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
 
Photo caption:
This photo, of the Indian Hunter sculpture at John Quincy Adams Ward’s Oak Dale Cemetery gravesite, is from the William “Bill” Whitman photography collection in the Champaign County Historical Society’s archives.  

The recently-restored “Indian Hunter” sculpture was rededicated Saturday morning Oct. 27, 2018 at
Oak Dale Cemetery, Urbana.
 
Mayor Bill Bean presided and first introduced Marty Reich who described the project and how it came
about.  He thanked all sponsors who are listed on a plaque attached to the base of the sculpture.
Mayor Bean then introduced Dr. Ward Lutz who distributed copies of the original program held
June 29, 1914.  
 
Dr. Lutz went on to list some of the accomplishments of John Quincy Adams Ward, America’s premier sculptor in the Nineteenth Century and suggested that Ward, an Urbana native, would have been pleased to have this sculpture marking his grave.  He then read a letter lauding Ward written for the 1914 dedication by sculptor Daniel Chester French, a student of Ward’s, and noted that French was best known for his design of Abraham Lincoln’s statue in the Lincoln Memorial.  
 
Artist Mike Major then spoke to the aesthetic details of the sculpture and the restoration process
which he did.  
 
About 35 people attended in inclement weather.

Celebrate our common heritage by visiting historical landmarks in Champaign County normally not open to the public! All sites free and open 12-5pm!