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Oswego, Illinois

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Oswego (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a village in Kendall and Will counties, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 34,485.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Oswego is the largest municipality in Kendall County. Part of the Chicago metropolitan area, it is an exurb of Chicago.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

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File:Little White School Museum.jpg
The Little White School Museum in downtown Oswego was built in 1850

In 1833, William Smith Wilson, his wife Rebecca, and his brother-in-law Daniel Pearce moved to the area now known as Oswego.<ref name=history>Template:Cite web</ref> The land belonged to the local Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa tribes, but the United States government removed the Native Americans when the government started surveying the land along the Fox River in Kendall County. In 1842, the federal government placed the land for sale at an established price of $1.25 an acre.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

After the sale of the land, Lewis Brinsmaid Judson and Levi F. Arnold from New York laid out the village and named it "Hudson". However, when a post office was established, its location was given as "Lodi". Confusion over the official name of the area led to a decision in January 1837, when the citizens gathered and voted "Oswego" as the permanent name of the village by a single vote.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The village was named after Oswego, New York, "Oswego" being an Iroquois word meaning "mouth of the stream".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The ford across the Fox River in the town allowed Oswego to grow economically and as a town, eventually incorporated in 1852 with its village boundaries at the time being Harrison Street to the northwest, Jefferson Street to the northeast, Monroe Street to the southeast, and Benton Street to the southwest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the advent of the automobile, Oswego continued to see growth as it became a hub for three different state highways (Illinois Route 25, Illinois Route 71, and Illinois Route 31).<ref name=history />

Major community developments began when Caterpillar Inc. and Western Electric built industrial plants near Oswego in the mid-1950s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This initially allowed nearby Boulder Hill to develop.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The next major development arrived in the mid-1980s during the suburban homebuilding boom, which allowed houses and buildings to populate the village. The rapid growth of the village allowed its limits to expand west of the Fox River into today's boundaries.<ref name=history />

Oswego is known to some Chicago-area residents for the town dragstrip on State Route 34, which was open from 1955 until 1979, where muscle cars were raced by drivers from all over the Midwest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The drag days are still celebrated even though the strip has been closed for decades.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although evidence of the drag strip, including parts of the track, still remain, the site is off limits to the public.

Geography

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Oswego is located in northeastern Kendall County on the Fox River with a small portion in Will County. It is bordered to the north by Boulder Hill and Montgomery, to the east by Aurora, and to the west by Yorkville, the Kendall county seat.

According to the 2010 census, the village of Oswego has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert (or 99.36%) is land and Template:Convert (or 0.70%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Downtown

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Downtown Oswego is home to historic buildings and homes, as well as shops and restaurants. The Village of Oswego launched a project to enhance and restore the historic downtown district. This project included significant infrastructure and streetscape improvements, such as the installation of brick pavers, sidewalks, landscaping, and decorative streetlights and benches. Hudson Crossing Park, located along the Fox River, opened in October 2004 where many children and families enjoy the scenery. The Waubonsee Creek Promenade, which stretches from Main Street to the new park, is the final phase of the downtown enhancements.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2008, the village celebrated its 175th anniversary.

Recreation and leisure

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The Oswego area is home to over Template:Convert of open land, trails, and parks maintained by the Oswegoland Park District. Established in 1950, this governmental agency is guided to "create opportunities for a healthy community". Overseeing 63 parks, Template:Convert of walking trails, two aquatic parks, and the Little White School Museum, the park district provides offerings for the community of 20,000 households as well as visitors from farther away.

The Oswego area holds several races for fitness enthusiasts. Several area festivals are coordinated by the park district, such as the annual PrairieFest.<ref>http://www.oswegolandparkdistrict.org.aspx Template:Dead link</ref>

Climate and Weather

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Climate

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Oswego is classified as having a hot-summer humid continental climate. Which is typical for the Midwest region. More particularly, it is in the Köppen Dfa zone.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the Köppen Dfa zone precipitation is usually amble, especially in the summer months. In the Dfa zones the spring and summer months can have severe weather, including tornadoes, when the polar front is in the southern margin of the zone. The region has four distinct seasons. Winters tend to be cold and have ample snow, blizzards are also a possibility. Springs tend to be humid, and can have precipitation and storms. Summers tend to be hot and have the highest precipitation overall as well as storms. Fall tends to cool down.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Oswego IL climate graph

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Template:Weather box

Demographics

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Template:US Census population

2020 census

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Oswego village, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition
Template:Nobold
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref> Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Partial<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> % 2000 % 2010 Template:Partial
White alone (NH) 12,079 23,700 23,400 90.64% 78.08% 67.66%
Black or African American alone (NH) 236 1,518 2,574 1.77% 5.00% 7.44%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 24 26 30 0.18% 0.09% 0.09%
Asian alone (NH) 183 1,022 1,588 1.37% 3.37% 4.59%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 3 9 7 0.02% 0.03% 0.02%
Other race alone (NH) 17 45 153 0.13% 0.15% 0.44%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) 119 479 1,417 0.89% 1.58% 4.10%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 665 3,556 5,416 4.99% 11.71% 15.66%
Total 13,326 30,335 34,585 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

2019 American Community Survey

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As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2019, there were 36,252 people, 11,215 families living in the village. The population density was 2,025/mi2 (782/km2). There were 10,388 housing units at an urban density of 668.9/mi2 (258.3/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 82.0% White, 5.6% African American, 0.24% Native American, 4.79% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.24% from other races, and 2.24% from two or more races. 17.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 9,935 households, out of which 50.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.2% were married couples living together, 10.58% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.2% were non-families.<ref name="GR3">Template:Cite web</ref> The average household size was 3.08 and the average family size was 3.43.<ref name="GR2" />

In the village, the population was spread out, with 34.7% under the age of 20, 17.0% from 20 to 34, 33.2% from 35 to 54, 8.3% from 55 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.9 years.<ref name="GR2" />

As of the 2019 census, the median income for a household in the village was $117,624, and the median income for a family was $102,110. Males had a median income of $75,849 versus $56,164 for females. The per capita income for the village was $37,839. 1.49% of the population and 1% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 1.49% of those under the age of 18 and 1.56% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.<ref name="GR2" />

Economy

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According to the Village's 2024 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the top employers in the village are:

Top employers in Oswego (2024)
# Employer Number of Employees % Oswego population
1 Oswego School District 308 1,900 5.4%
2 Jewel-Osco 340 1.0%
3 Meijer 300 0.9%
4 Wal-Mart 280 0.8%
5 Radiac Abrasives 250 0.7%
6 Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell 225 0.6%
7 Target 150 0.4%
8 Home Depot 150 0.4%
9 Village of Oswego 150 0.4%
10 UPS 100 0.3%

Transportation

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Major highway transportation corridors are:

The former Burlington Route line between Aurora and Streator runs through Oswego.

Education

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The Oswego Community Unit School District 308 serves Oswego, Boulder Hill, Montgomery, Plainfield, Aurora, Yorkville and Joliet. It operates 22 schools, including one early learning center, 14 elementary schools for grades K-5, 5 junior high schools for grades 6–8, 2 high schools, and one opportunity school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Portions of Oswego are within Yorkville Community Unit School District 115, which operates Yorkville High School.<ref>"About Our School District" (Archive). Yorkville Community Unit School District 115. Retrieved on June 9, 2015.</ref>

Notable people

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Awards and recognition

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Oswego was ranked #58 in 2011 on CNN/Money Magazine's Top 100 Best Towns to live.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> CNN Money ranks these towns based on their job opportunities, schools, safety, economic strength, and other qualities. Kendall County has continuously been ranked as one of the fastest-growing counties and a place of rapid job growth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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References

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Template:Kendall County, Illinois Template:Will County, Illinois Template:Fox Valley Template:Chicagoland Template:Illinois Template:Authority control Template:Geographic location

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