Elmhurst is a suburb of Chicago
in DuPage
County
, Illinois
. The
population is 43,298 (2006 Special Census.)
History
Members of the
Potawatomi Indian
tribe, who settled along Salt Creek just south
of where the city would develop, are the earliest known settlers of
the Elmhurst area. Around 1836, European
immigrants settled on tracts of land along the
same
creek.
At what would become Elmhurst City Centre,
a native of Ohio
named Gerry
Bates established a community on a tract of "treeless land" in
1842.
The following year, Cottage Hill Tavern opened where St. Charles
Road and Cottage Hill Avenue presently intersect. In 1845, the
community was officially named
Cottage Hill when a
post
office was established. Four years later the
Galena and Chicago Union
Railroad was given right-of-way through Cottage Hill giving
farmers easier access to Chicago. The
community changed its name to Elmhurst in 1869. Elmhurst was
incorporated as a village in 1882, with a population of 1,050, and
legal boundaries of St. Charles Road to North Avenue, and one half
mile west and one quarter mile east of York Street. Elmhurst
Memorial Hospital was founded in 1926 as the first hospital in
DuPage County.
The Memorial Parade has run every
Memorial
Day since 1918, and the Annual Elmhurst St. Patrick's Day
Parade continues to be the third largest parade of that sort in the
Chicago area, following the more famous parades downtown and on the
city's South Side.
The
Keebler Company's corporate
headquarters was in Elmhurst until 2001, when the
Kellogg Company purchased the company. The
city is home to the headquarters of
Sunshine Biscuits and
McMaster-Carr Supply Co.
Points of interest
Schools
- Middle Schools
- Bryan Middle School
- Churchville Middle School
- Sandburg Middle School
- Elementary Schools
- Conrad Fischer Elementary School
- Edison Elementary School
- Emerson Elementary School
- Field Elementary School
- Hawthorne Elementary School
- Jackson Elementary School
- Jefferson Elementary School
- Lincoln Elementary School
- Washington Elementary School, demolished in 1978
Notable residents
- Al Weis, Former Infielder, Chicago White
Sox (1962-1967) and NY Mets (1968-1971)
- Eugene V. Debs, Presidential Candidate and Socialist
Leader
- Jody Gerut, outfielder for the
Milwaukee Brewers
- Fred Lorenzen, former NASCAR driver
- Keith McCready, professional pool
player.
- Jack O'Callahan, former Chicago Black Hawks hockey player
- Phillip Ramey, composer and
pianist
- Steve Rushin, Sports Illustrated writer
- Carl Sandburg, poet, historian,
and novelist
- Ian Michael Smith, Star of
Simon Birch
- Larry Stefanki, former tennis
player
- Charles Tilly, Sociologist
- Rachel Melvin, Actress
- Jim Ryan, Former Illinois
Attorney General
- John Grochowski, author and
radio personality
- Jeff Hornacek, Former NBA
player
- Mark Sibley, Former NBA player
- Daniel Keefe, President and Founder
of the International Longshoremen's Association
- Mark Wilson, Pro
Golfer
- John Witt, author, sportswriter, actor
and Ballhawk
Transportation
Elmhurst
is served by Pace buses, and there is
also a commuter
railroad station
with service
to downtown Chicago. The
Union Pacific Railroad has freight
service on the
Metra line and
Canadian National Railway serves
the train line south of the Metra line. All these trains go through
a park in Elmhurst, the
Union
Pacific Railroad and
Metra go through
Golden Meadows Park, while the
Canadian National Railway goes
through Pioneer Park.
O'Hare International Airport
is eighteen minutes from Elmhurst and is also 33
minutes from Chicago Midway International
Airport
.
Geography
Elmhurst is located at .
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
10.3 square miles (26.6 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 42,762
people, 15,627 households, and 11,235 families residing in the
city. The
population density was
4,165.9 people per square mile (1,609.2/km²). There were 16,147
housing units at an average density of 1,573.1/sq mi
(607.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.40%
White, 0.94%
African American, 0.06%
Native American, 3.67%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 0.97% from
other races, and 0.95%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 4.02% of the
population.
There were 15,627 households out of which 33.9% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 62.0% were
married couples living together, 7.4% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families.
24.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age
of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to
64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in
the city was $81,925, and the median income for a family was
$97,975. Males had a median income of $57,193 versus $37,087 for
females. The
per capita income for
the city was $32,015. About 1.9% of families and 2.5% of the
population were below the
poverty line,
including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or
over.
References
- factfinder.census.gov
External links