Written by Caitlin Stamm
Now that it is officially summer and campus has emptied out, it’s a perfect time to take a wander down memory lane. There’s no better place to start than by exploring Lovers’ Lane!
Lovers’ Lane was located on Daniel Street and Champaign, between Fourth Street and Wright Street [1], next to the Kappa Alpha Theta house. For decades, it was a spot close to campus where couples would gather to take walks.
Lovers’ Lane was even featured on the October 1911 cover of The Siren. It’s no wonder the lane, and its proximity to sorority houses, was profiled; The Siren’s editor lived on Daniel Street in the Beta Theta Pi house [2].
As the University replaced brick walkways with cement, a Champaign City ordinance necessitated the removal of the great trees to create a sidewalk [3]. A 1915 Daily Illini article notes, “The sentiment of the majority of people living along the street seems to be in-favor of making the new walk narrower so that the long, shaded lane may be spared to future generations of strolling lovers” [4]. This, however, was not to be the case. The trees were condemned after the fall of 1915 and all had been removed by 1926 [5]. Continue reading “Campus Memories: Taking a Stroll Down Lovers’ Lane”