Courier Building

The Urbana Courier newspaper was founded in 1897. Twelve years later, Alvin Burrows stepped into the position of part-owner and managing editor of the newspaper and ran it for more than thirty years. This building was erected in 1916 and a substantial addition was built on the back in 1919. The Courier ceased publishing in 1979.

In the early 50's the building was almost lost to a fire but was saved and rebuilt. There are places where charred timbers are still visible.
In 1962, after many years at successful circulation, the Courier became plagued with problems and on March 31, 1979 closed their doors, bringing to an end one of the few remaining competitive newspaper situations in the United States. (My grandfather worked there in the 30's and I too worked there after I was first married.)

The passing of the Courier Newspaper was especially sad because of a strong bond of friendship of men and women of integrity in an enterprise which sought to make the world more meaningful to those who live in it.

The Courier then remained empty until July 7, 1980 when the current owner of the Courier Café began remodeling the desolated building. Care was taken to preserve as many of the original characteristics of the building as possible. On November 10, 1980, the building again came to life as the Courier Café.

Today the Courier Cafe is one of favorite places in Champaign-Urbana to eat.