North Aurora, Illinois

Coordinates: 41°48′34″N 88°19′46″W / 41.80944°N 88.32944°W / 41.80944; -88.32944

North Aurora
Village
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Kane
Coordinates	41°48′34″N 88°19′46″W / 41.80944°N 88.32944°W / 41.80944; -88.32944
Area	5.4 sq mi (14 km2)
- land	5.4 sq mi (14 km2)
Density	2,051.8 / sq mi (792 / km2)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	60542
Area code	630 and 331
Location of North Aurora within Illinois
Wikimedia Commons: North Aurora, Illinois

North Aurora is village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. A suburb of Chicago, its population was 15,848 at the 2009 census.

In its early history, North Aurora was known as "Schneider's Mill" or "Schneider's Crossing" after John Peter Schneider, a German immigrant who established a mill and dam on the Fox River after moving to the area in 1834. Schneider Elementary School in North Aurora is named after him.

School-age children in North Aurora attend public schools in the West Aurora Public School District 129. North Aurora's own district was absorbed into its neighbor, Aurora, in the early 1960s. Similarly, public spaces and parks are managed by the neighboring, larger Fox Valley Park District. North Aurora does maintain its own fire department, police department(29 sworn personnel including the chief) and public library district.

Public Services

Police department

The village has 29 police officers and one chief.

Fire department

Before North Aurora was established as a Village in 1905, there was a loosely organized volunteer fire brigade with mostly buckets and a hose cart. If the fire was located within reach of water from the river - well and good - men had a chance to put it out. A hand drawn cart with a hand-operated booster pump was the only available equipment. In 1903, a disastrous fire at the D. R. Sperry factory, located on the island, proved that this equipment was inadequate. When Sperry was given money to persuade him to rebuild his factory in the village, he handed it over to the village trustees with the instructions that it be given to the fire department to help in the purchase of a new booster pump.

In 1908, Village Ordinance #21 created a North Aurora Village Fire Department and a charter was given to that effect. Henry A. Taske was the first Fire Chief with a crew of 22 volunteers. The "Fire Barn" housing the limited equipment was just east of the Schirtz saloon on the island. A few years later, a larger "barn" was built across the street near the millrace. This building also had a room in the basement to be used as a jail. The room would accommodate one prisoner. On top of the building was a loud bell which would be rung to summon the men when a fire occurred. The bell was later replaced by a siren.

In 1938, the Village Mayor, James A. Sanders and the Board of Trustees passed a Resolution commending the "Fire Marshall", John M. Frieders and the members of the Fire Department for their "aggressive" efforts in obtaining funds for the purchase of new equipment to be used by the Fire Department. A new Ford pumper was purchased to replace an old Reo pumper.

In 1955, a new Village Hall was dedicated. The tan brick building, erected on part of the land of the island which had been transferred to the Fox Valley Park District in 1949, contained a room to house the fire department equipment, the police office, and the office of the village clerk. There was also a room for meetings of the village board and the library. A large multi-purpose room for public meetings was housed in the lower level of the building.

On July 7, 1958, the fire department officially became the North Aurora and Countryside Fire Protection District to enable the protection of residents outside of the Village limits. Andrew Pierce was the Chief at the time. In 1963, the district built Station #1 at the corner of State and Monroe Streets, where the building still stands.

On November 1, 1993, the district hired its first full time employee, Fire Chief Steve Miller. On December 1, 1993, the district hired its first two full-time firefighters, Todd Zies and Steve Kish. Today, the district has 20 sworn full-time firefighters, 43 part-time employees, and two Administrative Assistants.

To accommodate continued growth in the Village, the District opened Station #2 on March 16, 2007. The new station is located at 2201 Tanner Road.

Geography

North Aurora is located at 41°48′34″N 88°19′46″W / 41.80944°N 88.32944°W / 41.80944; -88.32944 (41.809387, -88.329316)^[1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 5.16 square miles (13.4 km²), of which, 5.2 square miles (13 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²) of it (2.82%) is water.

The Fox River runs north-south through the town.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 10,585 people, 4,019 households, and 2,833 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,051.8 people per square mile (792.0/km²). There were 4,220 housing units at an average density of 818.0 per square mile (315.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 87.71% White, 4.48% African American, 0.21% Native American, 2.54% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.33% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.68% of the population.

There were 4,019 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the village the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 36.6% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $58,557, and the median income for a family was $70,780. Males had a median income of $48,579 versus $31,522 for females. The per capita income for the village was $25,552. About 1.5% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

The North Aurora Special Census that took place during the summer of 2007 indicated a new village population of 15,893. This is an increase of 2,129 residents, or 15.5% from the last special census that was conducted in 2004. (http://www.vil.north-aurora.il.us/cgi-bin/news/newsscript.pl?record=79)

Media

Channel 99 WCC ETV Waubonsee Community College Educational Television

References

1. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Village of North Aurora
• Messenger Public Library of North Aurora
• West Aurora School District 129
• North Aurora Fire Department