Aurora, << aw RAWR uh >> (pop. 180,542), is one of the largest cities in Illinois. The city lies on the Fox River about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Chicago. Aurora has a mayor-council government. It was incorporated in 1857.
Settlement of the Aurora area began in 1834, when brothers Joseph and Samuel McCarty moved there from New York. They found that a bend in the Fox River provided an excellent location for a sawmill, for cutting wood, and a grist mill, for grinding grain. A village, known first as McCarty’s Mills, developed on the east side of the river. It was soon renamed Aurora. A separate town started on the west side of the river, and the two towns merged in 1857. In 1881, Aurora became one of the first towns in the United States to have street lamps lit by electric power. It gained the nickname “City of Lights.”
In 1856, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad established railcar construction and repair shops in the city. The company remained a leading employer in the area through the 1960’s. Today, leading economic activities in the city include health care, trade, and the manufacture of machinery and metal products.
In 1912, Mendota College moved to Aurora from Mendota, Illinois, and was renamed Aurora College. The college became Aurora University in 1985. The city also has a number of museums and historic districts.
