The “Then” photo is a photocopy of a post card (circa 1905) of the Urbana City Building with an interurban railroad trolley car on South Main Street at Market Street. This is Urbana car number 148. Note the hand cart in the photo. The interurban also transported freight.
The interurban line operated through Urbana from March 3, 1901 to October 29 1938. A substation for the interurban line was located on the north side of Market Street just west of South Main Street. It served as a maintenance shop and ticket office. Note the former City Building in the background. It burned in 1952.
For more information about the interurban there is an Ohio Historical Marker located on west Market Street across from the U.S. Post Office. Historian Scott Suther will present a program about the interurban at the museum on Sunday, June 11 at 2 p.m. As always the program is free and open to the public.
The “Now” photo of same location was taken in 2015.
Champaign County Historical Museum Item #’s 0310 & 1822