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An Attentive Municipal Organization that Connects with Community, Commerce, and Nature.

Community information

The Village of North Aurora has a current population of 18,261 as of 2020 and is located in the heart of Chicago’s western suburbs in southeast Kane County. Only 40 minutes west of the City of Chicago, residents of North Aurora enjoy direct access to I-88, Route 31, Route 25, Route 56 (Butterfield Road), Randall Road, and Orchard Road.  The proximity of these major suburban routes makes for easy traveling around town and into Chicago’s metropolitan center. North Aurora is a family-friendly community that is located along the scenic Fox River which provides many recreational opportunities. The Village offers numerous opportunities for residential growth and economic development.

The Village was incorporated in 1905 and operates under a president-trustee form of government. The Village Board consists of a Village President and six Village Trustees who are elected at-large for overlapping terms of four years. Elections are staggered with three trustees elected every two years. The Village Clerk and Village President are elected every four years. Municipal elections occur in odd numbered years.

Please find our Welcome Packet here for information about the Village of North Aurora!

Originally known as Schneider’s Crossing, North Aurora began with the arrival of two brothers in search of a location to build a saw mill. John Peter and Nicholas Schneider left their home near Frankfurt on-the-Rhine around 1823, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1824. The brothers found work as carpenters and millwrights.

In 1832, John Peter and his family traveled westward via rivers and Lake Michigan to the state of Michigan. They took up their journey again in 1833, and got as far west as what is now called Naperville. Nicholas joined his brother shortly thereafter, and they built a sawmill at the mouth of Blackberry Creek near Yorkville. Nicholas remained on the property, but John continued on into the Fox River Valley, settling with his family on the east side of the river on a hill near the site of the present Village Hall. In 1837, a dam was constructed to provide power to the mill John Peter had built. The commercial activity surrounding the mill attracted more families to the area. By the turn of the 19th century approximately 300 people lived in town. In 1905, North Aurora (the name of the local post office) was incorporated as a village.

In the early 20th century, Aurora became a hub of industry and railroading. Some of the railroad workers chose to live in North Aurora, triggering the Village’s moderate but steady growth until the 1960s. The 1960s ushered in an era when the character of the whole Fox River Valley changed; it transformed from a relatively local, freestanding economy where residents lived and worked into a more suburban experience where residents commuted to job centers located east of the valley. At first, residents had access to jobs through the commuter train system. Later they drove to job sites that had moved out of the metropolitan core and to areas surrounding the expressways. The movement of jobs continues to this day, and it continues to generate residential growth in North Aurora.

The first mayor of the Village of North Aurora was William A. Hartsburg, elected in 1905. A full list of mayors from past to present can be found here.

 

 


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