41 East University Avenue

Commercial architectural style

The 1913 Illinois Traction Building was the headquarters and terminal of a regional electrified railway system that served Danville, Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington, Peoria, Decatur, Springfield, St. Louis, and towns in between.  The terra cotta and red brick building, designed by local architect Joseph Royer, was strikingly different fromother buildings Royer designed in the twin cities, including many University of Illinois fraternity and sorority houses, the Champaign Country Club, and the Urbana-Lincoln Hotel. 

William McKinley, owner of Urbana’s electric power plant, purchased the city’s street railway system in 1890 and electrified it, forming the Danville, Urbana and Champaign Railway, Gas and Electric Company.  He formed a syndicate to acquire streetcar systems in many cities in Illinois and Indiana, then built power plants to service them.  McKinley’s scheme developed into the Illinois Traction System, which provided electric railway and streetcar service throughout central Illinois and south to St. Louis.   The 1913 Illinois Traction Building was constructed at the height of the railway’s success and served both as offices and a passenger depot.  The Illinois Traction System became the Illinois Terminal Railroad in 1928, streetcars were phased out in 1936, and inter-city electric train service ended in 1955.  The Illinois Traction Building was occupied by Illinois-Iowa Power Company in 1937, which became Illinois Power Company in 1947.  The utility maintained offices there until 1985.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 2006 for significance in Architecture, Transportation, and Commerce (#86003782).  Also known as the Illinois Power Building.