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Eye On Urbana, October 2002

Local Treasures

By Mary Connors

As much as I enjoy a meal, a meeting with friends, or a special occasion celebration at the Courier Cafe, I find a portion of my memory of the place will always belong to the now-defunct Champaign-Urbana Courier Newspaper. After all, the Courier occupied the building for 85 of its 102 years of publication. The newspaper ceased operation April 1, 1979. An enormous four level printing-press occupied the first floor with ink, paper, and supplies delivered in the back. The upper level housed the crowded, paper strewn office area. It looked exactly like the busy, cluttered newspaper offices of the 1940 movies. Old typewriters clacked away. Employees moved busily about. Some of those former employees were Robert Novak, Gene Shalit, and George Will.

The Courier Building sits within feet of the site of a cabin built by William Tompkins, Urbana's first settler, who arrived in 1837. He chose this location to be near a crystal clear stream, the Boneyard Creek. Did you know the Boneyard was so named for the debris of bleached bones scattered along its banks by countless Native American hunting expeditions?

The restaurant retains as much of the original character of the building as possible. A tin ceiling was added. There's a wonderful old self-correcting master clock on the north wall along with a Coca-Cola Regulator clock, a solid brass cash register, and other antiques. But despite the changes, the building stands. Even a "disastrous" fire in the 1950s has failed to do it in.