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71-568: The film was shot in Champaign and Chicago, Illinois . Press Start is scored by American video game music composer Jake Kaufman . The two characters played by Daniel and Carlos Pesina in Press Start , Sasori and Lei-Gong, are pastiches of their respective characters in the original Mortal Kombat game, Scorpion and Raiden . A sequel, Press Start 2 Continue , was released in 2011. Press Start focuses its parodic tone primarily toward

142-582: A county in the U.S. state of Illinois . As of the 2020 Census , its population was 205,865, making it the 10th-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Urbana . Champaign County is part of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area . The twin cities of Urbana and Champaign are the only cities in the county, and they nearly surround the campus of the University of Illinois . Champaign County

213-610: A humid continental climate , typical of the Midwestern United States, with hot summers and cold, moderately snowy winters. Temperatures exceed 90 °F (32.2 °C) on an average of 24 days per year, and typically fall below 0 °F (−17.8 °C) on six nights annually. The record high temperature in Champaign was 109 °F (42.8 °C) in 1954, and the record low was −25 °F (−31.7 °C), recorded on four separate occasions − in 1899, 1905, 1994 and 1999. As of

284-591: A Democratic presidential nominee, despite losing the presidential election. Republican Donald Trump had particularly poor showings in the county, receiving less than 40% of the vote in 2016, 2020, and 2024, his third-worst showing in the state and his worst outside the Chicago area. Here is a list of K–12 school districts with territory in the county, no matter how slight, even if the districts have their schools and/or administrative offices in other counties: K–12: Secondary: Elementary: University of Illinois lies in

355-519: A diamond interchange with Curtis Road. It makes two Cloverleaf interchanges with Interstate 72 towards Decatur, Illinois , and the second (soon to be changed) Cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 74 in Illinois to Indianapolis . After making the two major interchanges, it runs out of Champaign County with a Partial cloverleaf interchange with U.S. Route 45 to Rantoul, Illinois . Interstate 74 starts with U.S. Route 150 in Illinois with Mahomet, Illinois , it makes two total interchanges within

426-429: A family was $ 65,785. Males had a median income of $ 45,823 versus $ 35,321 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 24,553. About 9.7% of families and 20.5% of the population were below the poverty line , including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over. The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation (CHCEDC) produced a 2009 County Demographic Profile which includes information on

497-479: A new 24-story apartment building called 309 Green. The newly renamed Tower at 3rd (formerly Champaign Hilton, Century 21, Quality Inn, University Inn, Presidential Tower) is located in the University District and is over twenty stories high. A hotel until 2001, it currently houses student apartments. A new 14-story apartment complex was completed in 2014 at the intersection of 6th and Green streets (site of

568-592: A newly designed intermodal transportation center, aptly named Illinois Terminal by historic reference to the defunct electric interurban rail line that once ran through Champaign, was completed and serves as a central facility for intercity passenger rail, bus services as well as the MTD's local bus network. Danville Mass Transit and Champaign County Area Rural Transit System , which primarily provide transit services to Danville and Rantoul respectively, have connecting services to Illinois Terminal. The local bus system, which

639-646: A record high of 109 °F (43 °C) was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.90 inches (48 mm) in January to 4.80 inches (122 mm) in May. As of the 2010 census , there were 201,081 people, 80,665 households, and 42,737 families residing in the county. The population density was 201.8 inhabitants per square mile (77.9/km ). There were 87,569 housing units at an average density of 87.9 per square mile (33.9/km ). The racial makeup of

710-506: A tough-as-nails space soldier to save the world from a tyrannical, but comically insecure, sorcerer. While in production and post-production, a series of web shorts called Press Start: Bonus Levels (known as Press Start Adventures following the movie's release) were released on the film's website and Newgrounds . The series was created and animated by screenwriter Kevin Folliard and produced by Press Start director Ed Glaser. The pilot episode

781-709: Is Wolfram Research , with more than 400 employees in Champaign. The United States Army Corps of Engineers maintains the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign. In the 1980s, part of the downtown Champaign area (Neil St.) was closed to vehicular traffic to create a pedestrian mall, but this short-lived experiment was scrapped when business declined. As part of a revitalization effort, One Main Development constructed two new mixed-use buildings: One Main and M2 on Neil. The City of Champaign gave $ 3.7 million in tax incentives for

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852-556: Is a private, independent high school located in South Champaign which opened in 2017. The school is designed to be student-centered, highly collaborative, and project-based. Located within Champaign are two institutions of higher education, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Parkland College. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, located in the city's eastern side, is a public land-grant research university and

923-457: Is a restored 1463-seat movie theater which opened on December 28, 1921. It has an ornate, Spanish Renaissance-influenced interior, full stage and dressing rooms, and its original Wurlitzer pipe organ. It hosts Ebertfest and has a single 56' x 23' screen. The theater does not have a daily show schedule, but schedules special screenings and live performances several times each month. The Art Theater Co-op, which showed independent and foreign films,

994-474: Is also served by three private high schools. The largest of the three is St. Thomas More High School which is located on the city's far northwest side. The school opened in 2000 and is the newest charter of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria . Judah Christian School , which is located just south of I-74 on Prospect Avenue, opened in 1983 and serves grades pre-kindergarten through 12. Academy High

1065-496: Is home to many companies, including Caterpillar , ADM , John Deere , AbbVie , Motorola Solutions , Brunswick , Capital One , Cargill , NVIDIA , Riverbed Technology , Abbott Laboratories , Yahoo! and the State Farm Research and Development Center . The technology incubator at Research Park, EnterpriseWorks, has launched 350+ startups since opening in 2014. Famous graduates of EnterpriseWorks include Agrible, which

1136-592: Is home to the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball and Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball teams. It holds the annual Broadway Series, which features popular musicals. During its history, the city has been home to several separate minor league baseball clubs. The first in 1889 was a shared club between Champaign and Logansport, Indiana , called the Logansport/Champaign-Urbana Clippers. The Clippers played for one season in

1207-524: Is licensed to NOAA's National Weather Service Central Illinois Weather Forecast Office at Lincoln, broadcasting on a frequency of 162.550 MHz (channel 7 on most newer weather radios, and most SAME weather radios). The station activates the SAME tone alarm feature and a 1050 Hz tone activating older radios (except for AMBER Alerts, using the SAME feature only) for hazardous weather and non-weather warnings and emergencies, along with selected weather watches, for

1278-502: Is now depicted as being in Hell , and the character Zack Nimbus appears, as well. PC Gamer wrote that the film was "a surprisingly well-written parody of video game conventions". Movie Cynics makes note that if a filmmaker were to do everything possible to make a bad movie, Ed Glaser has succeeded and that Glaser has not only made a bad movie, but he has made an "awesomely bad movie...that pokes fun at video games." And in its being so bad,

1349-535: Is supported by the taxpayers of the Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) and the University of Illinois, serves Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, and surrounding areas. The C-U MTD has twice been named as the best local transit system in the United States. C-CARTS provides bus service connecting Champaign, Urbana and Rantoul. Champaign County, Illinois Champaign County is

1420-472: Is the character of Zack Nimbus who, in terms of the film, has yet to be made aware of his destiny. However, on November 24, 2006 the shorts began a five-part miniseries which led directly into the feature film. The shorts have since been hosted on the comedy media website That Guy with the Glasses , continuing new episodes now taking place after the film's conclusion, now known as Press Start Adventures. Count Vile

1491-500: Is water. It is the fifth-largest county in Illinois by land area. Because Champaign County is situated on a large and very flat plateau , it had virtually no natural drainage, so that much of the County consisted of wetlands until drainage ditches were built, beginning in the 1870s. This was an example of an upland marsh , which resulted in a high incidence of malaria before the late nineteenth century. The topography of Champaign County

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1562-662: The 2020 census there were 88,302 people, 34,851 households, and 15,624 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,816.81 inhabitants per square mile (1,473.68/km ). There were 40,314 housing units at an average density of 1,742.55 per square mile (672.80/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 53.45% White , 17.97% African American , 0.37% Native American , 16.69% Asian (6.34% Chinese , 3.92% Asian Indian , 1.83% Korean , 1.05% Filipino , 0.86% Vietnamese , 0.46% Thai , 0.27% Pakistani ), 0.05% Pacific Islander , 3.96% from other races , and 7.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.74% of

1633-760: The Illinois–Indiana League before folding. The city hosted its second team, the Champaign-Urbana Velvets from 1911 to 1914 who played in the Illinois–Missouri League until the league disbanded after 1914. The city's most recent minor league team was the Champaign-Urbana Bandits who played during the single 1994 season of the Great Central League . The Bandits played at Illinois Field . Prior to holding postseason play,

1704-488: The flagship institution of the University of Illinois system . It is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States with over 50,000 students enrolled annually. Parkland College, located in northwestern Champaign, is part of the Illinois Community College System and enrolls approximately 9,000 students annually. NOAA Weather Radio station WXJ76 transmits from Champaign and

1775-498: The "end result was a film that is a quintessential awesomely bad movie that is full of videogame references and is fun from beginning to end." In 2011, a direct-to-video sequel was made entitled Press Start 2 Continue , also produced and directed by Ed Glaser. Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( / ˌ ʃ æ m ˈ p eɪ n / sham- PAYN ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois , United States. The population

1846-575: The 2021 census gazetteer files, Champaign has a total area of 23.14 square miles (59.93 km ), of which 22.99 square miles (59.54 km ) (or 99.37%) is land and 0.15 square miles (0.39 km ) (or 0.63%) is water. Champaign is a city in central Illinois and is located on relatively high ground, providing sources to the Kaskaskia River to the west, and the Embarras River to the south. Downtown Champaign drains into Boneyard Creek, which feeds

1917-615: The French word for "open, level country". During February 1969, Carl Perkins joined with Bob Dylan to write the song "Champaign, Illinois", which Perkins released on his album On Top . The band Old 97's took another Bob Dylan song, " Desolation Row ", and combined its melody with new lyrics to make a new song "Champaign, Illinois", which they released with Dylan's blessing on their 2010 album The Grand Theatre Volume One . It achieved considerable popularity. The two "Champaign, Illinois" songs are not similar to each other, except that Bob Dylan

1988-491: The Illinois counties of Champaign, Coles, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Moultrie, Piatt, and Vermillion. Weather permitting, a tone alarm test of both the SAME and 1050 Hz tone features are conducted every Wednesday between 11 am and Noon. Champaign is served by I-57 , I-72 , I-74 , two railroad lines, and the University of Illinois operated Willard Airport (CMI). Interstate 57 enters in Champaign County after

2059-668: The Saline Branch of the Salt Fork Vermilion River . Champaign shares a border with the neighboring city of Urbana ; together they are home to the University of Illinois . Champaign, Urbana, and the bordering village of Savoy form the Champaign–Urbana Metropolitan Area , also known as "Champaign–Urbana". It may also be colloquially known as the "Twin Cities", " Chambana " or "Shampoo–Banana". The city has

2130-451: The University of Illinois and citizens of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area . This area has been undergoing change since 2002 with the completion of a new $ 7 million streetscape project. Campustown is now attracting new retail and entertainment stores as well as serving as the center for new construction projects. Several new projects opened in 2008 including the 18-story Burnham 310 high-rise and grocery store at 4th and Springfield, and

2201-406: The age of 18 living with them, 39.7% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 47.0% were non-families, and 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 28.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 45,262 and the median income for

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2272-400: The average family size was 2.30. The city's age distribution consisted of 17.0% under the age of 18, 29.0% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.1 males. The median income for a household in the city

2343-464: The branch lines is limited and consists primarily of freight. Amtrak , Greyhound , and Peoria Charter operate intercity buses from Champaign–Urbana to Chicago, St. Louis , Indianapolis , and other destinations. The Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District operates public city buses in Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy. Champaign County Area Rural Transit System (C-CARTS) provides on-demand transportation services for those living in rural areas of

2414-421: The building of M2 and agreed to pay nearly $ 11 million for a new parking deck. This growth in downtown Champaign coincided with the larger growth of the "north Prospect" shopping district on the city's northern boundary. The growth in the north Prospect area relied, in part, on leapfrogging, moving out to the countryside and developing more remote farmland that eventually connects to the main development. Given

2485-517: The city a large student population during the academic year. Due to the university and a number of technology startup companies , it is often referred to as a hub of the Illinois Silicon Prairie . Champaign houses offices for the Fortune 500 companies Abbott , Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Caterpillar , John Deere , Dow Chemical Company , IBM , and State Farm . Champaign also serves as

2556-650: The city's industrial base. Kraft's plant is one of the largest pasta factories in North America. The Champaign-Urbana community is a well-known hub for startups, including a top ranking from Silicon Prairie News in 2019. Champaign is home to nationally recognized record labels, artist management companies, booking agencies, and recording studios. Polyvinyl Records , Undertow Music , Parasol Records , Great Western Record Recorders, Pogo Studios, and Nicodemus Booking Agency are all based in Champaign. In April 2011, The Christian Science Monitor named Champaign-Urbana one of

2627-452: The city's limits. After making those interchanges, it makes one interchange with Interstate 57. After making the main interchange it starts to make interchanges with the city's streets. Interstate 74 goes out of Champaign County with St. Joseph, Illinois . Interstate 72 enters Champaign County with an interchange towards Monticello and north towards Mahomet after the main route that heads north crosses Interstate 74. Interstate 72 then heads into

2698-418: The closing of Chanute Air Force Base in the 1990s. In the 2004 Presidential election, it was one of only 15 of the 102 Illinois counties where John Kerry received a majority of the vote (50.37%). The county is 27 miles wide (east–west) and 36 miles long (north–south). Its area is 998 square miles (2,580 km ), of which 996 square miles (2,580 km ) is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km ) (0.2%)

2769-446: The cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 57 and then continues east for 1 1/2 to 2 miles eventually terminating itself at University Avenue on the southeast side of Champaign. Interstate Highways [REDACTED] Interstate 57 [REDACTED] Interstate 72 [REDACTED] Interstate 74 US Highways [REDACTED] US 45 [REDACTED] US 150 Illinois Highways [REDACTED] Route 10 In 1999,

2840-411: The county was 73.4% white, 12.4% black or African American, 8.9% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 2.2% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 5.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 23.9% were German , 12.2% were Irish , 11.5% were American , and 8.9% were English . Of the 80,665 households, 25.8% had children under

2911-613: The county. C-CARTS also operates fixed-route local bus service in the village of Rantoul, along with an additional route connecting Rantoul to Champaign–Urbana. In August 2018, the Champaign County Board voted to approve solar farms on certain agricultural properties. Solar farms produce photovoltaic energy , which is energy produced by cells that generate electricity when they are hit by light. The board approved solar farms in AG-1 and AG-2 agricultural zoning districts. In order to make

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2982-686: The county: There are two train stations in Champaign County: The Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign and Rantoul station in Rantoul. Both stations are served by the Amtrak Illini and Saluki trains, which operate once daily between Chicago and Carbondale . The Illinois Terminal is also served by the City of New Orleans , which operates once daily between Chicago and New Orleans . Amtrak passenger trains in Champaign County use

3053-557: The creation of the Champaign Swarm as one of its founding members, that began play at the Dodds Athletic Center in January 2015. There are 60 parks, 11 trails, and 14 facilities within the city of Champaign, totaling over 654 acres (2.65 km ). The city of Champaign is served by Champaign Unit 4 School District . Unit 4 administers both Champaign Central High School and Champaign Centennial High School . Champaign

3124-475: The east, west, and south. The Kaskaskia River has its origin to the northwest of Champaign , draining the western side of that City. The Kaskaskia flows toward the southwest, joining the Mississippi south of St. Louis , Missouri . The Embarras River , on the other hand, drains the south-central portion of Champaign–Urbana , originating in southeastern Champaign and flowing through the experimental fields on

3195-494: The era of 8-bit and 16-bit video games, but references more modern games as well. Games parodied range from Donkey Kong to Halo . The film also satirizes all aspects of gaming, including collectible card games , Saturday morning cartoons , comic books , and trends of turning games into breakfast cereals. Press Start tells the story of a suburban youth in a videogame world who discovers his adventurous, if berserk, destiny when he's recruited by an ill-tempered ninja and

3266-498: The few Democratic bastions in central Illinois, and has become one of the most Democratic counties in downstate Illinois. Since 2004, it has given a majority of the vote to Democratic candidates due to the county's liberalism, as home to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign . This tracks closely with the strong Democratic trend in other counties influenced by college towns since the 1990s. The county's more rural precincts are still heavily Republican, however, they are overpowered by

3337-459: The five cities leading the economic turnaround based on jobs; the information sector added over 300 jobs within a year and unemployment dropped 2.1%. Champaign features a large technology and software industry mostly focusing on research and development of new technologies. The Research Park , located on campus land just south of the State Farm Center and run by the University of Illinois ,

3408-558: The former Gameday Spirit). A 12-story, mixed-use complex consisting of a hotel, apartments and parking was scheduled to be completed by August 2015. The mixed-use complex is reported to consist of two towers which will be connected by a skywalk. A 27-story apartment building is planned at 308 East Green Street. This high-rise is reported to have an automated parking vault which will be operated by an elevator. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign fields ten men and eleven women varsity sports. Built from 1922 to 1923, Memorial Stadium

3479-664: The former Illinois Central mainline, which is owned by the Canadian National Railway and also used by freight trains. The Norfolk Southern Railway operates two branch lines in Champaign County: the Mansfield Line from Urbana to Mansfield and the Lafayette District from Decatur to Peru, Indiana . Canadian National also operates branch lines from Champaign to Seymour and Rantoul to Dewey . Traffic on

3550-468: The headquarters for several companies, including Jimmy John's . Champaign was founded in 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad laid its rail track two miles (3 km) west of downtown Urbana. Originally called "West Urbana", it was renamed Champaign when it acquired a city charter in 1860. Both the city and county name were derived from Champaign County, Ohio , which took its name from

3621-727: The league folded. Twice Champaign was also home to a Collegiate Summer Baseball League team. The city's Champaign County Colts were a founding member of the Central Illinois Collegiate League from 1963 to 1964. In 1990 the Colts were revived as the Champaign-Urbana Colts until the team folded in 1996. The more recent club played its home games at Illinois Field . In October 2014, the Midwest Professional Basketball Association announced

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3692-451: The overwhelming success of such suburban shopping areas nationally, new development within any city center represented an alternative to the dominant movement out and away from the cities. The Champaign City Building serves as the City Hall and is a recognizable landmark. The building replaces the original city building, which sat on the same site until 1937. The historic Virginia Theatre

3763-648: The population, labor, housing, cost of living, education, taxes, retail sales, transportation, quality of life, utilities. CHCEDC also conducts labor force studies every two years and labor shed studies every few years. Supported by the University of Illinois , through backings such as the Research Park, and Champaign County leaders, the area has shown even more growth in Information Technology, Micro/Nanotechnology, Bio-Imaging, Healthcare, Logistics, Distribution, and Agribusiness in recent years. As of 2023,

3834-411: The population. There were 34,851 households, out of which 21.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.63% were married couples living together, 8.77% had a female householder with no husband present, and 55.17% were non-families. 39.97% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.01% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.13 and

3905-512: The series as well, including Mortal Kombat 's John Turk (who took over the ninja roles portrayed by Pesina), and David Humphrey, the original voice of Shadow the Hedgehog . The animations take place before the events of the movie, similar to two made-for-DVD animated prequels: Van Helsing: The London Assignment and The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury . The animations started out being nonlinear and do not progress after one another. Notably missing

3976-421: The solar farms, developers must obtain a special permit from the county board first. At least seven applications for permits were submitted in the first month. In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Urbana have ranged from a low of 16 °F (−9 °C) in January to a high of 85 °F (29 °C) in July, although a record low of −25 °F (−32 °C) was recorded in January 1999 and

4047-647: The southern part of the campus of the University of Illinois . The Embarras is a tributary to the Wabash River and Ohio River systems. The northeast corner of Champaign, the central portion of the University campus, and the northern part of Urbana are drained by the Boneyard Creek , which flows into the Saline Branch , a tributary of the Vermilion and Wabash rivers. The following public-use airports are located in

4118-473: The state Science Olympiad competition every year. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign once again hosted the National competition on May 20–22, 2010. Joan Severns was the city's first female mayor, serving between 1979 and 1983. Deborah Frank Feinen, who has served as mayor since 2015, is the city's second female mayor. In May 2017, the city's first female-majority city council was sworn in. According to

4189-423: The top 15 employers in the county are the University of Illinois, Carle Foundation Hospital, Champaign Schools Unit 4, Kraft Heinz, OSF Healthcare, Parkland College, Kirby Foods, Christie Clinic, Champaign County Government, Urbana School District #116, FedEx, Plastipak, Rantoul Foods, Busey Bank, and SuperValu. Township government was adopted on November 8, 1859. Like most of central Illinois , Champaign County

4260-406: The vote in Champaign and Urbana, which account for over 60 percent of the county's population. George H. W. Bush in 1988 was the last Republican to carry the county, and Barack Obama 's 2008 performance was the best by a Democrat until Joe Biden 's 2020 performance surpassed it. In 2024, Democrat Kamala Harris received over 60% of the vote in the county, the highest percentage ever received by

4331-402: The world, characters, and humor of Press Start . They are also noted by their lack of budget constraints allowing more artistic freedom to be taken with the action and effects than that seen in the feature film. Back story, inside jokes, and running gags are further flushed out in the animations than what could be used in the film. A number of notable videogame voice actors have guest starred in

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4402-496: Was $ 49,467, and the median income for a family was $ 78,118. Males had a median income of $ 36,680 versus $ 27,805 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 30,245. About 10.3% of families and 23.9% of the population were below the poverty line , including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over. In addition to the University of Illinois, Champaign is also home to Parkland College. Herff Jones , formerly Collegiate Cap and Gown, and Kraft also form part of

4473-481: Was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metropolitan area . It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area , which had 236,000 residents in 2020. Champaign shares the main campus of the University of Illinois with its twin city of Urbana , and is also home to Parkland College , which gives

4544-566: Was built in 1913 as the Park Theatre. From 1969 to 1986, it showed adult films. Until October 2019, it was the only single-screen movie theater operating daily in Champaign-Urbana, and was the United States's first co-operatively owned art movie theater. It closed in October 2019. Located along Green Street, this commercial district serves as the entertainment and retail center for students at

4615-405: Was directed by Folliard, while the following episodes were directed by Glaser. Original music is composed by Jake Kaufman. They premiered on April 28, 2006. Since, there's been a new episode on the last Friday of every following month. The episodes feature numerous visual gags and video game parodies. The cartoons were created as a way to generate hype for the feature film by introducing people to

4686-511: Was formed by the Wisconsin glaciation about 20,000 years before the present. Lobes of ice from what is now Lake Michigan crossed the county, creating a deep pile of glacial soil, up to 300 feet thick, topped by numerous moraines forming small, flat watersheds with no outlets. Champaign County is situated on the divide between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers . Rivers flow out of Champaign County to

4757-530: Was involved in both of them. On September 22, 1985, Champaign hosted the first Farm Aid concert at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium . The concert drew a crowd of 80,000 people and raised over $ 7 million for American family farmers. In 2005, Champaign–Urbana (specifically the University of Illinois) was the location of the National Science Olympiad Tournament, attracting young scientists from all 50 states. The city also hosts

4828-561: Was named in honor of the students and faculty members who died overseas during World War I. Since opening in 1923, Memorial Stadium has been home to Illinois Fighting Illini football . The stadium also was the temporary home of the NFL's Chicago Bears for the 2002 season while its regular venue Soldier Field was being renovated. Originally known as the Assembly Hall, the State Farm Center

4899-479: Was organized in 1833, having been previously a part of Vermilion County . The development of the county was greatly furthered by the arrival of the Chicago Branch of the Illinois Central Railroad , and even more by the establishment of the land-grant university. Later, the county also got an airport and a mass transit district . The northern part of the county experienced an economic and demographic setback with

4970-524: Was powerfully Republican between the Civil War and the latter portion of the 20th century. From 1856 to 1988, it only supported a Democrat three times, in the national Democratic landslides of 1932, 1936 and 1964. Pockets of Democratic support existed in the cities of Champaign and Urbana, which frequently sent Democrats to the Illinois House of Representatives . Since 1992, Champaign County has been one of

5041-823: Was sold to Nutrien in 2018 for $ 63 million. Another success story is Starfire, which graduated from EnterpriseWorks and moved into other space at the Research Park. In 2022, Starfire was growing so fast, it bought its own 190,000 SF building in the northwest side of Champaign. According to the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, the top ten employers in the city are: Other major employers include Horizon Hobby , Jimmy John's , Plastipak, SuperValu , and Wolfram Research . Numerous other software and technology companies also have offices in Champaign including Ansys , Amdocs , Cloudflare, Instarecon, Phonak , Power World, and Caterpillar Simulation Center. The largest high technology employer

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