Campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

The Main Quadrangle at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign comprises the main campus of the university. It is a major quadrangle surrounded by buildings of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) and is the center of campus activities.

Several architects had been instrumental in the building of the campus. These include Ernest L Stouffer, Nathan Clifford Ricker, Charles A. Platt, James White, Clarence Howard Blackall, Holabird & Roche, and W.C. Zimmerman. Various campus buildings have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places; these include the Mumford House, Freer Hall, Evans Hall, Busey Hall, Main Library, Altgeld Hall, Round Barns, Kenney Gymnasium, Natural History Building, and Harker Hall. In addition, the Morrow Plots and the University Observatory are designated as the National Historic Landmark.

Established as one of 37 public land-grant institutions established after the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act. The act was signed by Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862. The Morrill Act of 1862 granted each state in the United States a portion of land on which to establish a major public state university, one which could teach agriculture, mechanic arts, and military training, "without excluding other scientific and classical studies." This phrase would engender controversy over the University's initial academic philosophies, polarizing the relationship between the people of Illinois and the University's first president, John Milton Gregory. Illinois was one of seven commonwealths that had not formed a state university. The grant established eligibility for 480,000 acres of public scrip land valued at $600,000.

In the 1920s the University became known as one of the strongest fraternity campuses in the country. Fraternity row was established in the early 1900s while sorority housing concentrated on John Street. The fraternity district moved southward towards Chalmers Street and most sororities moved to Urbana by the Greek house building boom in the 1920s. In June 1929, the Alma Mater statue was unveiled. Like many Universities, the economic depression slowed construction and expansion which was during President Arthur C. Willard's term. Willard served from 1934 to 1946. Even though expansion was slow but added Gregory Hall and the Illini Union. In the years following World War II, under president David Henry the university experienced rapid growth. The enrollment doubled and the academic standing improved which also resulted in the expansion of the campus and buildings. This included the creation of Willard Airport.

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