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Before white settlers arrived, there was a Native American village
in what is today downtown Aurora. In 1834, the McCarty brothers arrived
and initially owned land on both sides of the river, but sold their lands
on the west side, living and operating their mill on the east side.[2]
Aurora was originally two villages: one on the East Side of the Fox River
founded by the McCarty brothers and the West Side founded by the Lake
brothers. A post office was established in 1837, officially creating
Aurora. In 1857, Aurora (then what is now known as the East Side) joined
with the West Side.[3] The Aurora Fire Department was established in
1856, and took ownership of its first fire engine that year. The two
sides couldn’t agree on which side of the river should house the
public buildings, so most public buildings were built on or around Stolp
Island in the middle of the Fox River. (A parking garage stands at the
site of the original City Hall and Post Office.)
As the city grew, many factories and jobs came to Aurora, along with many
people. In 1856, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad located
its railcar construction and repair shops in Aurora to become the town's
largest employer until the 1960s. Many of the heavy industries were located
on the East side which provided employment for four generations of European
immigrants. Many immigrants flocked to the city, mainly from Great Britain,
Ireland, Scandinavia, Luxembourg, Germany, France, and Italy.The professional
and managerial workers more likely came from Yankee stock and settled across
the river, making the West side more affluent. Aurora became main economic
center of the Fox Valley area. The combination of these three factors—a
highly industrialized town, a sizable river that divided it, and the Burlington's
shops—account for much of the dynamics of Aurora's political, economic,
and social history. Both sides of Aurora still maintain a rivalry which
is enacted through yearly high school football/basketball games. This is
the oldest high school rivalry in the state of Illinois.[4]
Beginning in the boom period, the town was inclusive and tolerant, and
welcomed a variety of immigrants and openly supporting abolitionism prior
to the American Civil War. Mexican migrants began arriving after 1910.
Socially, the town was progressive in its attitude toward education, religion,
welfare, and women. The first free public school district in Illinois was
established in 1851 and a high school for girls four years later. By 1887,
20 congregations (including two African American churches) representing
nine denominations were established, and a YWCA started in 1893, still
in operation today.[2]
The city was a manufacturing powerhouse until 1974,
when the railroad shops began to close. Soon many other factories and industrial
areas relocated or went out of business. By 1980, there were few operating
industrial areas in the city, and unemployment soared to 16%.[2] Although
development of the Far East side at Fox Valley Mall brought stimulus, it
helped lead to the decline of the downtown area on Stolp Island. Starting
in the late 1980s, several business and industrial parks were established
on the outskirts of the city. Today some of the old industrial districts
have been reoccupied as warehouses. In 1993, a casino was built downtown,
which brought redevelopment to the downtown area. In the late 1990s, more
development began in the rural areas outside of Aurora. Subdivisions sprouted
up all around the city; Aurora's population soared. Today, approximately
70,000 of the city's residents live in these areas of the city. |
