Aurora

History

Before European settlers arrived, there was a Native American village in what is today downtown Aurora, on the banks of the Fox River. In 1834, following the Black Hawk War, the McCarty brothers settled on both sides of the river, but subsequently sold their land on the west side to the Lake brothers, who opened a mill. The McCartys lived on and operated a mill on the east side. Aurora was established with the building of a post office in 1837. Aurora began as two villages: East Aurora, incorporated in 1845 on the east side of the river, and West Aurora, formally organized on the west side of the river in 1854. In 1857, the two towns joined, incorporating as the city of Aurora. Representatives could not agree which side of the river should house the public buildings, so most of them were built on or around Stolp Island in the middle of the river. As the city grew, it attracted numerous factories and jobs. In 1849, after failing to attract the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad building west from Chicago, the Aurora Branch Railroad was chartered to build a connection from Aurora to the G&CU at a place called Turner Junction, now West Chicago. Additional lines were built, including a direct line to Chicago, and in 1855 the company was reorganized into the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The CB&Q located its roundhouse and locomotive shop in Aurora, becoming the town's largest employer until the 1960s. Restructuring in the railroad industry resulted in a loss of jobs as passenger traffic dropped and the number of railroads decreased. The Burlington Railroad ran regularly scheduled passenger trains to Chicago. Other railroads built lines to Aurora, including the Chicago & Northwestern Railway to Geneva, the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway to Joliet, Chicago,…

Geography

Aurora is at (41.7637855, −88.2901352). While the city has traditionally been regarded as being in Kane County, Aurora also includes parts of DuPage, Kendall and Will counties. Aurora is one of only three cities in Illinois that span four counties, the others being Barrington Hills and Centralia.) Politically, the city is divided into 10 wards. Large portions of Aurora can be described as being within three regions: * The West Side, which is west of the Fox River. * The East Side, which spans the region east of the Fox River, stopping at the DuPage County line. * The Far East Side, a portion of Aurora east of the DuPage County line These three regions are partly depicted in police boundaries and school districts. Aurora is categorized as a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa). The annual precipitation for Aurora is about 40 inches. The record high for Aurora is , on July 14, 1936. The record low is , on January 16, 2009. The average high temperature for Aurora in July is , the average January low is . On July 17–18, 1996, a major flood struck Aurora, with of rain in a 24-hour period, which is an Illinois state record. Flooding occurred in almost every low-lying area citywide, as well as localized river inundation with neighborhoods bordering the Fox River. In 1990, the supercell thunderstorm that produced the deadly Plainfield Tornado passed over the city, dropping golf ball-sized hail and causing wind damage. Less than ten minutes after passing through Aurora, the storm produced an F5 tornado, which touched down in nearby Oswego, less than 5 miles from downtown. The tornado then traveled through Plainfield and Joliet, killing 29 people.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  64,535
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  60,380
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  50,526
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  50,298
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  47,057
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  46,790
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  46,024
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  45,333

Largest nearby schools

• East High School
  High · Aurora · 4,197 students · 19.4:1 ratio
• West Aurora High School
  High · Aurora · 3,818 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• Batavia Sr High School
  High · Batavia · 1,826 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• Geneva Community High School
  High · Geneva · 1,656 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Sam Rotolo Middle Sch
  Middle · Batavia · 1,142 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Kaneland Harter Middle School
  Middle · Sugar Grove · 894 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Henry W Cowherd Middle School
  Middle · Aurora · 883 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• K D Waldo Middle School
  Middle · Aurora · 846 students · 14.3:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2025-03-15
  6 km W of Dwight, Illinois
• M 3.1 — 2024-07-15
  2 km WNW of Somonauk, Illinois
• M 3.6 — 2023-11-15
  1 km SSW of Standard, Illinois
• M 2.9 — 2015-03-25
  3 km WNW of Lake in the Hills, Illinois
• M 3.2 — 2013-11-04
  1 km SSW of Lyons, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2013-06-10
  4 km NNE of Virgil, Illinois