Elmhurst, Illinois


Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city has a population of 44,121.

History

Members of the Potawatomi Native American people, 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-American 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, Hill Cottage 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. In 1871, Elmhurst College was organized and currently has 3,500 undergraduates and about 300 graduate students. Elmhurst was incorporated as a village in 1882, with a population between 723 and 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. 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.
Since 1964, it has been home to Elmhurst CRC, one of the largest congregations of the Christian Reformed Church in North America.
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. Famous Amos cookies are also distributed from Elmhurst.
In 2014, Family Circle magazine ranked Elmhurst as one of the "Ten Best U.S. Towns for Families".

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Elmhurst has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
The town also has a tendency to flood, and the city has tried preventing or suppressing this for the future.

Demographics

As of the 2000 census, 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. There were 16,147 housing units at an average density of 1,573.1 per square mile. 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 2016 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $104,854 Males had a median income of $57,193 versus $37,087 for females. The per capita income for the city was $44,601. 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.

Economy

Top employers

According to Elmhurst's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
#Employer# of Employees
1Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare2,758
2McMaster-Carr Supply Company800
3Elmhurst College600
4Duchossois Enterprises Group450
5Altorfer Power Systems 400
6Semblex Corporation260
7Superior Sound, Inc.250
8FedEx Freight200
9Superior Ambulance Service200
10Safway Services, LLC180

Arts and culture

Timeline for Elmhurst's leadership:
is the local college of the area. It is a four-year private liberal arts college affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
School districts serving Elmhurst include:
Private schools:

Transportation

Elmhurst is served by Pace buses, and the Metra Union Pacific/West Line. The Union Pacific Railroad has freight service on the Metra line and Canadian National Railway serves the former Illinois Central line south of the Metra line. O'Hare International Airport is 18 minutes from Elmhurst, and Chicago Midway International Airport is 33 minutes from Elmhurst.
During the summers and December, Elmhurst also has the "Elmhurst Express Trolley". A free weekend trolley that connects downtown Elmhurst to the Spring Road businesses and the Elmhurst Public Library. It runs Friday-Saturday and the $40,000 cost comes out of visiting and tourism fund.

Notable people