Editing Aurora, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[File:Leland Tower from Galena.JPG|thumb|View of Stolp Island historic buildings from Downer Place with architectural details, such as these [[terracotta]] tiles.]]
Before European settlers arrived, there was a [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] village in what is today downtown Aurora, on the banks of the [[Fox River (Illinois River tributary)|Fox River]]. In 1834, following the [[Black Hawk War]], the McCarty brothers settled on both sides of the river, but subsequently sold their land on the west side to the Lake brothers, who opened a mill. The McCartys lived on and operated a mill on the east side.<ref name=Encyclopedia>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/91.html|title=Aurora, IL|website=www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org|access-date=May 2, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210094756/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/91.html|archive-date=December 10, 2008}}</ref> Aurora was established with the building of a post office in 1837.

Aurora began as two villages: East Aurora, incorporated in 1845<ref name="genealogytrails.com">{{cite web|url=http://genealogytrails.com/ill/kane/aurora.html|title=History of Aurora, Illinois|first=K.|last=Torp|website=genealogytrails.com|access-date=May 2, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709131951/http://genealogytrails.com/ill/kane/aurora.html|archive-date=July 9, 2012}}</ref> on the east side of the river, and West Aurora, formally organized on the west side of the river in 1854.<ref name="genealogytrails.com"/>

Between 1850 and 1870 a wave of [[Luxembourgish Americans|Luxembourgish immigrants]] settled in Aurora.<ref>Luxembourg America, 19th,20th and 21th century - roots and leaves foundation 2015 p. 71.</ref>
In 1857, the two towns joined, incorporating as the city of Aurora.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| url = http://genealogytrails.com/ill/kane/aurora.html| title = Aurora Township, Kane County, Illinois| encyclopedia = Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois| publisher = Kane County Illinois Genealogy Trails| access-date = September 24, 2011| url-status = live| archive-url = https://archive.today/20120709131951/http://genealogytrails.com/ill/kane/aurora.html| archive-date = July 9, 2012}}</ref>  Representatives could not agree which side of the river should house the public buildings, so most of them were built on or around [[Stolp Island]] in the middle of the river.

As the city grew, it attracted numerous factories and jobs. In 1849, after failing to attract the [[Galena and Chicago Union Railroad]] building west from Chicago, the [[Aurora Branch Railroad]] was chartered to build a connection from Aurora to the G&CU at a place called Turner Junction, now [[West Chicago]]. Additional lines were built, including a direct line to Chicago, and in 1855 the company was reorganized into the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jhc4AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA96 An act granting a charter to the Aurora Branch Railroad Company], approved February 12, 1849</ref><ref name=ICC>{{val rep|Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company|715|134|I|1|year=1927|intlink=Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad}}</ref> The CB&Q located its [[Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Roundhouse and Locomotive Shop|roundhouse and locomotive shop]] in Aurora, becoming the town's largest employer until the 1960s. Restructuring in the railroad industry resulted in a loss of jobs as passenger traffic dropped and the number of railroads decreased. The Burlington Railroad ran regularly scheduled passenger trains to Chicago.<ref>The Burlington Railroad operated passenger trains between Chicago and Aurora for over 100 years, since Aurora was an important suburb. See "Chicago-Aurora Centennial, 1864–1964" (Burlington Railroad, 1964).</ref> Other railroads built lines to Aurora, including the [[Chicago & Northwestern Railway]] to [[Geneva, Illinois|Geneva]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Aurora to Geneva, IL |url=https://www.abandonedrails.com/aurora-to-geneva |website=AbandonedRails.com |access-date=November 28, 2021}}</ref> the [[Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway]] to [[Joliet, Illinois|Joliet]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The Aurora Branch |url=https://www.abandonedrails.com/aurora-branch |website=AbandonedRails.com |access-date=November 28, 2021}}</ref> [[Milwaukee Road|Chicago, Milwaukee & Gary]] to [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The Gary Line |url=https://www.abandonedrails.com/gary-line |website=AbandonedRails.com |access-date=November 28, 2021}}</ref> and the interurbans [[Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad]], [[Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company]], [[Chicago, Aurora and DeKalb Railroad]], and [[Aurora, Plainfield and Joliet Railroad]]. With the exception of the EJ&E main line on the east side of the city and the former Burlington lines, all lines have been abandoned.

The heavy industries on the East side provided employment for generations of European immigrants, who came from [[Ireland]], [[Great Britain]], [[Scandinavia]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Germany]], [[France]], [[Romania]] and [[Italy]]. Aurora became the economic center of the [[Fox Valley (Illinois)|Fox Valley region]]. The combination of these three factors—a highly industrialized town, a sizable river that divided it, and the Burlington railroad's shops—accounted for much of the dynamics of Aurora's political, economic, and social history. The city openly supported [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionism]] before the [[American Civil War]]. [[Mexico|Mexican]] migrants began arriving after the [[Mexican Revolution]] of 1910. Socially, the town was [[progressivism|progressive]] in its attitude toward education, religion, welfare, and women. The first free public school district in Illinois was established in 1851 here and the city established a high school for girls in 1855.

During this period in the city's history, Aurora was also hit with one of the strongest earthquakes ever [[List of earthquakes in Illinois|to strike Illinois]], a M 5.1, on May 26, 1909<ref>{{cite journal
| url = https://doi.org/10.1785/0120130003
| title = A Reevaluation of the Intensities of the Northern Illinois Earthquake of 1909
| date = 2013
| journal = Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
| doi = 10.1785/0120130003
| access-date = October 22, 2024
| last1 = Huysken
| first1 = K. T.
| last2 = Fujita
| first2 = K.
| volume = 103
| issue = 5
| pages = 2810–2823
| bibcode = 2013BuSSA.103.2810H
}}</ref>

Later, the city developed as a manufacturing powerhouse which lasted until the early 1970s, when the railroad shops closed. Many other factories and industrial areas relocated or went out of business. By 1980, there were few industrial areas operating in the city, and unemployment soared to 16%.<ref name=Encyclopedia/> During the late 1970s and early 1980s, development began in the Far East side along the Eola Road and Route 59 areas. This was financially beneficial to the city, but it sapped retail businesses downtown and manufacturing in the industrial sectors of the near East and West Sides, weakening them. In the mid-1980s crime rates soared and street gangs formed.

During this time Aurora became much more ethnically diverse. The Latino population grew rapidly in the city during the 1980s. In the late 1980s, several business and industrial parks were established on the city's outskirts. In 1993, the Hollywood Casino was built downtown, which helped bring the first redevelopment to the downtown area in nearly twenty years. In the late 1990s, more development began in the rural areas and towns outside Aurora. Subdivisions sprouted up around the city, and Aurora's population soared.

On September 26, 2014, [[2014 air traffic control facility fire|a fire]] at an [[air traffic control]] edifice in Aurora (also known as the "Chicago Center") caused nearly 2000 airline flights to be grounded.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/travel/chicago-ohare-midway-flights-stopped/index.html|title=Man faces charges in FAA facility fire - CNN.com|date=September 26, 2014|work=CNN|access-date=September 27, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927012145/http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/travel/chicago-ohare-midway-flights-stopped/index.html|archive-date=September 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-flights-grounded-at-midway-ohare-as-fire-crews-called-to-radar-facility-20140926-story.html#page=1|title=FBI: Contract worker set fire at FAA center, tried to kill himself|date=September 26, 2014|work=chicagotribune.com|access-date=September 27, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926172508/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-flights-grounded-at-midway-ohare-as-fire-crews-called-to-radar-facility-20140926-story.html#page=1|archive-date=September 26, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chicago-air-traffic-halted-over-fire-at-faa-facility/|title=Chicago air traffic halted over fire at FAA facility|website=[[CBS News]]|date=September 26, 2014|access-date=September 27, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926182954/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chicago-air-traffic-halted-over-fire-at-faa-facility/|archive-date=September 26, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2014/09/26/chicago-flights-grounded-after-fire-at-faa-radar-facility/16254133/|title=Chicago flights grounded after fire at FAA radar facility|author=Aamer Madhani|author2=Ben Mutzabaugh|author3=William Spain|author4=USA TODAY|website=[[USA Today]]|name-list-style=amp|date=September 26, 2014|access-date=September 27, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926232819/http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2014/09/26/chicago-flights-grounded-after-fire-at-faa-radar-facility/16254133/|archive-date=September 26, 2014}}</ref> Brian Howard, an employee of [[Harris Corporation]], was charged in the incident.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/fire-grounds-flights-chicago-snarls-air-traffic-133940698--finance.html|title=Chicago-area air traffic center fire grounds 1,750 flights|date=September 26, 2014|work=Yahoo News|access-date=September 27, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927041917/http://news.yahoo.com/fire-grounds-flights-chicago-snarls-air-traffic-133940698--finance.html|archive-date=September 27, 2014}},</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/fire-control-stops-ohare-midway-flights-120948209.html|title=Fire at air-traffic center disrupts 1,800 flights|date=September 27, 2014|work=Yahoo News|access-date=September 27, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926190643/http://news.yahoo.com/fire-control-stops-ohare-midway-flights-120948209.html|archive-date=September 26, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/chicago-traffic-control-center-fire-stops-flights/story?id=25775192|title=Contract Employee Charged in Fire That Grounded Chicago Flights|work=ABC News|access-date=September 27, 2014}}</ref>

On February 15, 2019, police responded to [[Aurora, Illinois shooting|an active shooter situation in west Aurora]] to find that a former employee at the [[Henry Pratt Company]] had opened fire on fellow employees after being terminated from the company. Five officers and several civilians were injured in the ensuing standoff, after which police entered the building and killed the shooter. The incident left six dead (including the gunman) and numerous others wounded. It was the first major shooting in the town's history.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Romo |first1=Vanessa |title=Gunman Kills 5, Wounds At Least 5 More At Industrial Facility In Aurora, Ill. |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/02/15/695264811/aurora-ill-officials-say-police-apprehend-shooter?t=1579449383732 |website=NPR.org |access-date=January 19, 2020 |language=en |date=February 15, 2019}}</ref>