Fun Aurora Facts
What's in a name?Birthplace of the Burlington RR
Famous Aurorans
Some great factoids
The City of LightsIn 1881, Aurora was the first city in the midwest to adopt electricity for streetlighting. This was acomplished by mounting powerful arc lamps atop 150-foot towers scattered throughout town. Five years later, Aurora became the first city in the world to own and operate a municipal electric power plant.
By 1908, the towers were gone, but hundreds of lower-level lights were in place. Then, the local merchants funded a new decorative lighting system in the downtown. At that time, Aurora officially adopted the slogan, "The City of Lights".
In 1834, brothers Joseph and Samuel McCarty came west from upstate New York to seek their fortunes. Arriving in Illinois, they located a spot on the Fox River where they built a sawmill and a grist mill. Around the mills, a settlement grew. In 1837, when a Post Office was established there, the village became Aurora.
Over 10,000 years ago, now-extinct Mastodons, prehistoric ancestors of the elephant, roamed about the Fox Valley area. In 1934, while digging a lake at Phillips Park, dozens of mastodon bones were discovered and given to the Aurora Historical Society.
Native Americans
For thousands of years, successive Native American peoples inhabited the Fox River Valley. Just before the coming of the white man, Potawatomi chief Waubonsie had his village on the Fox River at the site of the present day Aurora. In 1835, Waubonsie and his people were relocated west of the Mississippi River.
The city of Aurora actually began as two separate villages on either side of the Fox River. On the east side, the brothers McCarty founded Aurora. On the west side, the brothers Lake founded West Aurora. In 1857, the two were united as the City of Aurora.
The first free public school district in the state of Illinois was East Aurora (District 131), established in 1851, two years before state-wide establishment of a public school system.
The Aurora Zouaves, a military close-order drill team, was formed in 1887. By 1896, wins in successive competitions earned them the title, "Champions of the World". From 1897 to 1906, the Aurora Zouaves were famous the world over. The team toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and with Forepaugh & Sells Brothers Circus. The Zouaves also toured Europe on their own in 1901-02, playing before thousands of spectators and the crown heads of Europe.
Oldest Sports Rivalry
The longest-standing sports rivalry in the state of Illinois is between East and West Aurora High Schools. The schools have played an annual footbal contest since 1893; basketball has been played between the two since 1912.
A century ago, Aurora was the center of a thriving industry in female support garments, with three major corset factories locating here between the 1880s and 1910s. The earliest, the Chicago Corset Company, was the second-largest in the world; in 1890, the company employed 600 young women and girls, producing 2 million corsets annually.
The first public flight demonstration took place at the Driving Park in Aurora when a Wright Brothers plane did demonstrations for the City's 1910 Fourth of July celebration.
From the 1900s to the 1920s, several manufacturers of steel lockers, shelving, desks and cabinets located to Aurora. These included Lyon Metal, Aurora Metal, All-Steel, Durabilt, and Equipto.
Mailing address: P.O. Box 905, Aurora IL 60507 * For specific physical addresses, contact us
For information: 630.906.0650 * Fax: 630.906.0657
For Historical Research: 630.897.9029
Aurora Public Art Commission: 630.906.0654
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