Elburn

History

On May 2, 1834, William Lance arrived in the Elburn area and soon built a home there. Shortly thereafter, a man named Henry Warne arrived and opened a stagecoach inn called the Halfway House, since it was halfway between Oregon, Illinois and Chicago. When the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company built through the area in 1854, the stop at this site was named Blackberry Station after the Township. The village incorporated as Elburn in 1886. The village was originally named Blackberry Station but was changed at the request of the railroad. The name Elburn itself derives from its originally suggested name, Melbourne, but a suggestion to shorten the name resulted in the dropping of the "M", leaving Elbourne. From there, it was shortened even further to Elburne, and then finally to Elburn. Once largely rural, the area's population began rapidly expanding in the 1990s with the arrival of large tract home developments. In January 2006, Metra began to provide passenger rail service from Elburn to Chicago on the Union Pacific West Line. The new station replaced Geneva as the western end-of-line and made Elburn one of Chicago's farthest western suburbs. A new station was also constructed in La Fox.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Elburn has a total area of , all land. Neighboring cities include Batavia, Geneva, and St. Charles (referred to, as a group, as the Tri-Cities). Campton Hills also borders Elburn, and Aurora, Elgin and DeKalb (home of Northern Illinois University) are nearby as well. La Fox is on the east. Lily Lake is on the north. Kaneville is on the south. And Maple Park is on the west.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  22,007
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,838
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,497
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  17,940
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  16,149
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,620
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,098
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,789

Largest nearby schools

• St Charles East High School
  High · Saint Charles · 2,076 students · 13.2:1 ratio
• St Charles North High School
  High · Saint Charles · 1,929 students · 14.2:1 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
• Central High School
  High · Burlington · 1,387 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Wredling Middle School
  Middle · Saint Charles · 1,375 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Kaneland Senior High School
  High · Maple Park · 1,309 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Thompson Middle School
  Middle · Saint Charles · 1,267 students · 13.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-07-08
  21 km ENE of Kenilworth, Illinois
• 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