Elgin is a city
40 mi (64 km). (64.5 km) northwest of Chicago on the
Fox River. Most of Elgin lies within Kane County, Illinois,
with a portion in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2000
census, the city had a total population of 94,487, making
it the eighth-largest city in Illinois and the 241st
largest city in the United States. As of 2007 Elgin's
population is estimated to be at 101,903, and the Northeastern
Illinois Planning Commission forecasts Elgin will have
a population of 167,375 in 2030.
The Black Hawk Indian War of
1832 led to the expulsion of the Native Americans who
had settlements and burial mounds in the area, and set
the stage for the founding of Elgin. Thousands of militiamen
and soldiers of Gen. Winfield Scott's army marched through
the Fox River valley during the war and accounts of
the area's fertile soils and flowing springs soon filtered
east. In New York, James T. Gifford and his brother
Hezekiah Gifford heard tales of this area ripe for settlement,
and travelled west. Looking for a site on the stagecoach
route from Chicago to Galena, they eventually settled
on a spot where the Fox River could be bridged. In April
1835, they established the city, naming it after the
Scottish hymn "The Song of Elgin." Elgin National
Watch Company "Father Time" logoIn 1849, the
Galena & Chicago Union Railroad reached Elgin, which
later would be served by railroads running along both
banks of the Fox River, linking the growing town to
Chicago and other urban centers.
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