Elgin, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Elgin is a city in northern Illinois located roughly 40 mi (64.4 km) northwest of Chicago
on the Fox River
. Most of Elgin lies within Kane County, Illinois
, with a portion in Cook County, Illinois
. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 108,188, making it the eighth-largest city in Illinois
and the 241st largest city in the United States.
The Indian Removal Act
of 1830 and the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832
led to the expulsion of the Native Americans
who had settlements and burial mounds in the area, and set the stage for the founding of Elgin. Thousands of militia
men and soldiers of Gen. Winfield Scott
's army marched through the Fox River
valley during the war and accounts of the area's fertile soils and flowing springs soon filtered east.
In New York, James T. Gifford and his brother Hezekiah Gifford heard tales of this area ripe for settlement, and travelled west. Looking for a site on the stagecoach route from Chicago
to Galena
, they eventually settled on a spot where the Fox River could be bridged. In April 1835, they established the city, naming it after the Scottish
hymn "The Song of Elgin."
In 1849, the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad
reached Elgin, which later would be served by railroads running along both banks of the Fox River, linking the growing town to Chicago and other urban centers. Early Elgin achieved fame for the butter and dairy goods it sold to the city of Chicago
. Gail Borden
established a condensed milk factory here in 1866, and the local library is named in his honor. The dairy industry became less important with the arrival of the Elgin Watch Company
. The watch factory employed three generations of Elginites from the late 19th to the mid 20th century, when it was the largest producer of fine watches in the United States (the factory ceased production in the early 1960s and was torn town in 1965). Today, the clocks at Chicago's Union Station
still bear the Elgin name.
In 1872, Elgin attracted a major state institution, the Northern Illinois State Mental Hospital and later a Veterans Administration Hospital.
Elgin has a long tradition of education and invention. Elgin is home to the Elgin Academy, the oldest coeducational, non-sectarian college preparatory school west of the Allegheny Mountains
. Elgin High School boasts five navy admirals, a Nobel Prize winner, a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Tony Award winner, two Academy Award–winning producers, Olympic athletes and a General Motors CEO among its alumni. Elgin resident John Murphy invented the motorized streetsweeper
in 1914 and later formed the Elgin Sweeper Corporation. Pioneering African-American chemist Lloyd Hall
was an Elgin native, as was the legendary marketer and car stereo pioneer Earl "Madman" Muntz
and Max Adler, founder of the Adler Planetarium
in Chicago, America's first planetarium.
Local historian E.C. Alft has written several books and an ongoing newspaper column about Elgin's history.
, including some fine examples of homes in the Queen Anne style. Many of the most remarkable homes once belonged to National Watch Company executives. Many interesting Sears Catalog Home
s arrived in Elgin as kits from 1908 to 1940.
Predating Victorian homes were homes made of native cobblestone
. It is believed that Elgin had at one time the largest concentration of cobblestone homes outside of Rochester, New York. Several such homes built by the earliest settlers still stand. They can be seen in Elgin's historic districts, two of which are recognized by the National Register of Historic Places
.
The Elgin Public Museum
at Lords Park is the oldest building in Illinois built expressly as a museum that is still serving that purpose.
The 9-member Elgin Heritage Commission promotes historic preservation activity. The Gifford Park Association is also active in historic preservation, and conducts a popular annual house tour.
After losing many landmark businesses in the 1980s, downtown Elgin experienced a renaissance in the 1990s with the arrival of the Grand Victoria riverboat casino
and improvement in the local economy. Many historic buildings have been transformed into stylish clubs and restaurants.
Elgin's city parks include 112 acre
(453,000 m²) Lords Park, which features the Elgin Public Museum
, a petting zoo, and a herd of American bison
, and 121 acre (490,000 m²) Wing Park, which includes a golf course. Other golf courses within Elgin include the Highlands of Elgin, the Elgin Country Club, and Bowes Creek Country Club. The Centre of Elgin, which among other features includes an aquatic park and a climbing wall, remains one of the largest municipal recreation centers in the United States. The Elgin Sports Complex on the City's Southwest side offers ten lighted ballfields, ten soccer fields and The Hill BMX track. The Complex hosts several local, regional and national tournaments every year. Elgin connects to Algonquin
and Dundee
to the north, and St. Charles
, Geneva
, and Batavia
to the south by the Fox River Trail bike path
.
Although one of the largest and fastest-growing cities in Illinois, Elgin still retains some of the natural beauty and habitat diversity that first brought settlers to this area. On the East, the city borders the 4200 acres (17 km²) Poplar Creek Preserve, maintained by the Cook County Forest Preserves
, which includes bike trails, hiking trails and equestrian trails. The Shoe Factory Road Prairie located in the preserve provides an example of the hill prairies that once dotted the region. Poplar Creek Preserves connects to the 4000 acres (16.2 km²) Spring Creek Valley Forest Preserve via a conservation easement covering parts of the Sears campus.
Elgin boasts two highly protected nature preserves, the Bluff Spring Fen and Trout Park. For its size, Bluff Spring Fen has a remarkable number of distinct plant communities, including a hill prairie and a fen
, or alkaline spring marshland, which is home to several rare orchids. Trout Park also includes a similar calcerous seep community, with the addition of a unique forest community of oaks, ashes, maple
s, and uncommon species such as arborvitae
and witch-hazel
. When the park was created in the 1920s, the local newspaper ran a lengthy front-page story with lists of the plant species of Trout Park, reflecting both the great variety of plants present and interest Elginites had in conservation. In the 1960s, the Northwest Tollway
bisected the site and reduced it in size.
, which has become a major retail corridor connecting the Fox Valley. Elgin's downtown area has also attracted developer interest. Three large residential projects will be completed in the downtown by 2007, at a total cost of more than $100 million. The Gail Borden Public Library
moved into a new $30 million 460,000 volume-capacity building in October 2003. Other recent projects include the city's $41 million recreational center, the Centre of Elgin.
The city's rapid growth has been accompanied by increased concerns about traffic, urban sprawl
, and the city's capacity to provide services to new residents. City officials insist that Elgin's water plants have ample capacity to serve new residents. Elgin is known for the quality of its tap water, which in the past ten years has been named both the finest in Kane County and the finest in Illinois.
In the 1990s, Elgin became one of the few cities in northern Illinois to host a riverboat
casino
. The Grand Victoria Casino
initially generated controversy, but has since proven a significant source of income for the city. Drawing nearly four million people annually, as of March 2005, it is the fifth most popular tourist attraction in Illinois. The Grand Victoria Foundation, to which the casino has contributed an amount in excess of $116 million, provides community grants to nonprofits in the city.
A significant Laotian
American community calls Elgin home. Elgin has been the sister city of Vientiane
, the capital of Laos
, since 1967. Some Laotian Americans have opened stores and restaurants, contributing to the city's cultural diversity.
Elgin's civic society is characterized by a large, diverse, and effective group of grassroots organizations, a sense of community pride and a spirit of volunteerism and participation. In recognition of this, for the second time, Elgin won the National Civic League's prestigious All-America City Award
in 2002.
Community Groups:
and Sean Stegall, respectively.
The city is represented in the Illinois legislature by Representatives Keith Farnham
(D), Timothy L. Schmitz
(R), and Fred Crespo
(D) and Senators Michael Noland
(D) and Chris Lauzen
(R). In the US House of Representatives, Elgin is represented by Randy Hultgren
(R), Peter Roskam
(R), and Joe Walsh
(R).
Elgin includes portions of Hanover Township
in Cook County and Elgin Township
, Plato Township, Rutland Township, Dundee Township, and Campton Township in Kane County. Elgin Township is governed by a supervisor (Annette Miller), clerk (Kurt Kojzarek http://www.kojzarek.org) and four trustees (Robert "Bob" Johnson, J. Patrick Hudgens, Vicki Pellock and Steve Thoren) elected to four year terms.
The Elgin fire department is the largest fire department in Illinois without a training officer, Fire Marshall or full time truck company.It currently runs 2 part time ambulances that double as part time truck companies.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 25.4 square miles (65.8 km²), of which, 25 square miles (64.7 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1 km²) of it (1.54%) is water.
of 2000, there were 94,487 people, 31,543 households, and 22,395 families residing in the city. The population density
was 3,779.1 people per square mile (1,459.3/km²). There were 32,665 housing units at an average density of 1,306.5 per square mile (504.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 70.49% White, 6.80% African American, 0.40% Native American, 3.88% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 15.39% from other races
, and 2.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 34.32% of the population. A significant portion of Elgin's Asian population is of Laotian
origin.
There were 31,543 households out of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples
living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.49.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.0% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $52,605, and the median income for a family was $58,404. Males had a median income of $39,581 versus $28,488 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $21,112. About 6.4% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.
's Milwaukee District/West Line
, which provides daily rail service between Elgin and Chicago, Illinois (at Union Station
): National Street
, Elgin
, and Big Timber Road
. Big Timber Road is the western terminus of this service. The STAR Line would have a fourth station at the border with Bartlett.
Elgin also used to have a streetcar
system, operated by the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company
. Additionally, Elgin was served by several interurban
lines. The most prominent of these was the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad
which provided frequent service into Chicago.
Local bus service is provided by PACE (the Suburban bus provider of the Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Authority). PACE operates about a dozen bus routes in the city with service running Monday through Saturday. Most of the routes terminate at the Elgin Bus Terminal located at 100 West Chicago Street in downtown. Routes generally run every half an hour and meet up at the terminal at the same time to provide convenient transferring. Several routes also travel out of Elgin to other nearby suburbs, such as Carpentersville, Dundee (Spring Hill Mall), Schaumburg (Woodfield Mall), and St. Charles (Charlestowne Mall and connecting bus service to Aurora and Geneva).
Greyhound Lines
provides bus service from the Elgin bus terminal in downtown.
of the International Basketball League
.
Public school districts serving Elgin:
Private schools include:
Colleges and Universities:
silver
half dollar was issued by the United States Mint
commemorating the centennial of Elgin, Illinois. The coin was meant to raise money for the pioneer family memorial proposed by Elgin sculptor Trygve Rovelstad
, and sold for $1.50. The obverse features the profile of a pioneer with the dates 1673 * 1936, while the reverse features a pioneer family; both images are based on a centennial "Pioneer Medal" made by Rovelstad. The date 1673 is in reference to the expedition of Louis Jolliet
and Pere Marquette
, despite the fact that their journey took them nowhere near the future site of Elgin.
The coin did not prove to be a popular success, probably because of the Great Depression
and the great variety of commemorative coins being issued at the time. Five thousand of the 25,000 coins initially minted were unsold and melted down by the mint. Rovelstad's pioneer statue was not installed until 2001.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on the Fox River
Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois in the United States. There are two other "Fox Rivers" in southern Illinois: the Fox River and a smaller "Fox River" that joins the Wabash River near New Harmony, Indiana.-Wisconsin:The Fox River rises near...
. Most of Elgin lies within Kane County, Illinois
Kane County, Illinois
Kane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 515,269, which is an increase of 27.5% from 404,119 in 2000. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora.- Geography :...
, with a portion in Cook County, Illinois
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 108,188, making it the eighth-largest city in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and the 241st largest city in the United States.
History
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830.The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in...
of 1830 and the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....
led to the expulsion of the Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who had settlements and burial mounds in the area, and set the stage for the founding of Elgin. Thousands of militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
men and soldiers of Gen. Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
's army marched through the Fox River
Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois in the United States. There are two other "Fox Rivers" in southern Illinois: the Fox River and a smaller "Fox River" that joins the Wabash River near New Harmony, Indiana.-Wisconsin:The Fox River rises near...
valley during the war and accounts of the area's fertile soils and flowing springs soon filtered east.
In New York, James T. Gifford and his brother Hezekiah Gifford heard tales of this area ripe for settlement, and travelled west. Looking for a site on the stagecoach route from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to Galena
Galena, Illinois
Galena is the county seat of, and largest city in, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in the United States, with a population of 3,429 in 2010. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its history, historical architecture, and ski and golf resorts. Galena was the residence of Ulysses S...
, they eventually settled on a spot where the Fox River could be bridged. In April 1835, they established the city, naming it after the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
hymn "The Song of Elgin."
In 1849, the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad
Galena and Chicago Union Railroad
The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was a railroad running west from Chicago to Clinton, Iowa and Freeport, Illinois, never reaching Galena, Illinois...
reached Elgin, which later would be served by railroads running along both banks of the Fox River, linking the growing town to Chicago and other urban centers. Early Elgin achieved fame for the butter and dairy goods it sold to the city of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Gail Borden
Gail Borden
Gail Borden, Jr. was a 19th century U.S. inventor, surveyor, and publisher, and was the inventor of condensed milk in 1853.- Early years :...
established a condensed milk factory here in 1866, and the local library is named in his honor. The dairy industry became less important with the arrival of the Elgin Watch Company
Elgin Watch Company
The Elgin National Watch Company, most commonly known as just the Elgin Watch company was a major US watch company.-History:The Elgin National Watch Company, was founded in August 1864 as the National Watch Company. A number of former associates of the Waltham Watch Company and Chicago watchmaker J.C...
. The watch factory employed three generations of Elginites from the late 19th to the mid 20th century, when it was the largest producer of fine watches in the United States (the factory ceased production in the early 1960s and was torn town in 1965). Today, the clocks at Chicago's Union Station
Union Station (Chicago)
Union Station is a major train station that opened in 1925 in Chicago, replacing an earlier 1881 station. It is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago, as well as being the city's primary terminal for commuter trains. The station stands on the west side of the Chicago River between Adams...
still bear the Elgin name.
In 1872, Elgin attracted a major state institution, the Northern Illinois State Mental Hospital and later a Veterans Administration Hospital.
Elgin has a long tradition of education and invention. Elgin is home to the Elgin Academy, the oldest coeducational, non-sectarian college preparatory school west of the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
. Elgin High School boasts five navy admirals, a Nobel Prize winner, a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Tony Award winner, two Academy Award–winning producers, Olympic athletes and a General Motors CEO among its alumni. Elgin resident John Murphy invented the motorized streetsweeper
Streetsweeper
*Street Sweeper Social Club is an American rap/rock supergroup primarily consisting of guitarist Tom Morello vocalist/emcee Boots Riley.*Street Sweeper, another name for the Armsel Striker, a semi-automatic shotgun, or an automatic shotgun, especially those used in the United States in the...
in 1914 and later formed the Elgin Sweeper Corporation. Pioneering African-American chemist Lloyd Hall
Lloyd Hall
Lloyd Augustus Hall was an African American chemist who contributed to the science of food preservation. By the end of his career, Hall had amassed 59 United States patents, and a number of his inventions were also patented in other countries.-Biography:Hall was born in Elgin, Illinois on June...
was an Elgin native, as was the legendary marketer and car stereo pioneer Earl "Madman" Muntz
Madman Muntz
Earl William "Madman" Muntz was an American businessman and engineer who sold and promoted cars and consumer electronics in the United States from the 1930s until his death in 1987. He was a pioneer in television commercials with his oddball "Madman" persona – an alter ego who generated publicity...
and Max Adler, founder of the Adler Planetarium
Adler Planetarium
The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox...
in Chicago, America's first planetarium.
Local historian E.C. Alft has written several books and an ongoing newspaper column about Elgin's history.
Architecture and historic preservation
The city is known for its historic architecture and landmarks from the Victorian eraVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, including some fine examples of homes in the Queen Anne style. Many of the most remarkable homes once belonged to National Watch Company executives. Many interesting Sears Catalog Home
Sears Catalog Home
Sears Catalog Homes were ready-to-assemble kit houses sold through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Company, an American retailer. Over 70,000 of these were sold in North America between 1908 and 1940. Shipped via railroad boxcars, these kits included all the materials needed to build a house...
s arrived in Elgin as kits from 1908 to 1940.
Predating Victorian homes were homes made of native cobblestone
Cobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
. It is believed that Elgin had at one time the largest concentration of cobblestone homes outside of Rochester, New York. Several such homes built by the earliest settlers still stand. They can be seen in Elgin's historic districts, two of which are recognized by the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
The Elgin Public Museum
Elgin Public Museum
The Elgin Public Museum of Natural History and Anthropology in Lords Park is a small natural history museum located in Elgin, Illinois.-History:...
at Lords Park is the oldest building in Illinois built expressly as a museum that is still serving that purpose.
The 9-member Elgin Heritage Commission promotes historic preservation activity. The Gifford Park Association is also active in historic preservation, and conducts a popular annual house tour.
Arts, recreation and conservation
Elgin is home to the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, one of the largest orchestras in Illinois, and a primary option for live symphonic music in Chicago's Northwest suburbs. Other classical music groups include the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra—the only youth symphony ever invited to Ravinia, the Elgin Choral Union, the Elgin Children's Chorus, and Elgin Opera Outdoor music can be heard at the Wing Park Bandshell. Theatre groups include the Janus Theatre Company, Elgin Theatre Company, Children's Theatre of Elgin, Fox Valley Youth Theatre, and Nothing Special Productions. Together, the Hemmens Auditorium and Elgin Community College's Visual & Performing Arts Center host dozens of performances a year by performers ranging from Chicago's Hubbard Street Dance Company to comedian Bill Maher.After losing many landmark businesses in the 1980s, downtown Elgin experienced a renaissance in the 1990s with the arrival of the Grand Victoria riverboat casino
Grand Victoria Casino Elgin
The Grand Victoria Casino Elgin is a riverboat casino in Elgin, Illinois, located about west of Chicago. It is 50% owned and operated by RBG, LLP, a subsidiary of Hyatt, and 50% by a subsidiary of MGM Resorts International, which acquired Mandalay Resort Group, the former 50% partner company, in...
and improvement in the local economy. Many historic buildings have been transformed into stylish clubs and restaurants.
Elgin's city parks include 112 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
(453,000 m²) Lords Park, which features the Elgin Public Museum
Elgin Public Museum
The Elgin Public Museum of Natural History and Anthropology in Lords Park is a small natural history museum located in Elgin, Illinois.-History:...
, a petting zoo, and a herd of American bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
, and 121 acre (490,000 m²) Wing Park, which includes a golf course. Other golf courses within Elgin include the Highlands of Elgin, the Elgin Country Club, and Bowes Creek Country Club. The Centre of Elgin, which among other features includes an aquatic park and a climbing wall, remains one of the largest municipal recreation centers in the United States. The Elgin Sports Complex on the City's Southwest side offers ten lighted ballfields, ten soccer fields and The Hill BMX track. The Complex hosts several local, regional and national tournaments every year. Elgin connects to Algonquin
Algonquin, Illinois
Algonquin is a village in Illinois located in both McHenry and Kane counties. It is a northwest suburb of Chicago, located approximately 40 miles from the Loop...
and Dundee
East Dundee, Illinois
East Dundee is a village in Kane County with a small section in Cook County. The population was 2,955 at the 2000 census.-Geography:East Dundee is located at ....
to the north, and St. Charles
St. Charles, Illinois
St. Charles is a Chicago suburb in Kane and DuPage counties of Illinois, United States, and is roughly west of Chicago on Illinois Route 64. According to a 2004 census estimate, the city has a total population of 32,134. The official city slogan is Pride of the Fox, after the Fox River that runs...
, Geneva
Geneva, Illinois
Geneva is the county seat of Kane County, Illinois. It is located on the western fringe of the Chicago suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 26,652. Geneva is part of a tri-city area, along with St. Charles and Batavia...
, and Batavia
Batavia, Illinois
Batavia was founded in 1833, and is the oldest city in Kane County, Illinois, with a small portion in DuPage County. During the Industrial Revolution, Batavia became known as ‘The Windmill City’ for being the largest windmill producer of the time...
to the south by the Fox River Trail bike path
Segregated cycle facilities
Segregated cycle facilities are marked lanes, tracks, shoulders and paths designated for use by cyclists from which motorised traffic is generally excluded...
.
Although one of the largest and fastest-growing cities in Illinois, Elgin still retains some of the natural beauty and habitat diversity that first brought settlers to this area. On the East, the city borders the 4200 acres (17 km²) Poplar Creek Preserve, maintained by the Cook County Forest Preserves
Cook County Forest Preserves
The Cook County Forest Preserves are a network of open spaces, containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are set aside as natural areas. Cook County contains Chicago, Illinois, and is the center of a densely-populated urban metropolitan area in northeastern Illinois...
, which includes bike trails, hiking trails and equestrian trails. The Shoe Factory Road Prairie located in the preserve provides an example of the hill prairies that once dotted the region. Poplar Creek Preserves connects to the 4000 acres (16.2 km²) Spring Creek Valley Forest Preserve via a conservation easement covering parts of the Sears campus.
Elgin boasts two highly protected nature preserves, the Bluff Spring Fen and Trout Park. For its size, Bluff Spring Fen has a remarkable number of distinct plant communities, including a hill prairie and a fen
Fen
A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...
, or alkaline spring marshland, which is home to several rare orchids. Trout Park also includes a similar calcerous seep community, with the addition of a unique forest community of oaks, ashes, maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
s, and uncommon species such as arborvitae
Thuja
Thuja is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae . There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia...
and witch-hazel
Witch-hazel
Witch-hazel is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, with three species in North America , and one each in Japan and China...
. When the park was created in the 1920s, the local newspaper ran a lengthy front-page story with lists of the plant species of Trout Park, reflecting both the great variety of plants present and interest Elginites had in conservation. In the 1960s, the Northwest Tollway
Northwest Tollway
The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in Illinois is a 79-mile segment of Interstate 90 from Interstate 190 in far northwest Chicago to Illinois Route 75, one mile south of the Wisconsin state line. For 16 miles , Interstate 90 is concurrent with Interstate 39 and U.S. Route 51...
bisected the site and reduced it in size.
Elgin today
Elgin ranks as one of the fastest growing cities in Illinois. In June 2005, the Chicago Tribune quoted Elgin Mayor Ed Schock saying that Elgin will in 40 years be the second largest city in Illinois. The city's Far West Development Strategy calls for the construction of 14,000 homes on agricultural land west of Randall RoadRandall Road
Randall Road is a major north-south county highway in McHenry and Kane County, Illinois. The road is named after Norman Randall, a prominent area landowner in the 1930s. It serves as the western extent of the Fox Valley suburbs in the Chicago metropolitan area. Its southern terminus is in Aurora,...
, which has become a major retail corridor connecting the Fox Valley. Elgin's downtown area has also attracted developer interest. Three large residential projects will be completed in the downtown by 2007, at a total cost of more than $100 million. The Gail Borden Public Library
Gail Borden Public Library District
Gail Borden Public Library is a public library district located in Elgin, Illinois, USA. District boundaries include the cities of Elgin, South Elgin, Bartlett, Streamwood, and Hoffman Estates...
moved into a new $30 million 460,000 volume-capacity building in October 2003. Other recent projects include the city's $41 million recreational center, the Centre of Elgin.
The city's rapid growth has been accompanied by increased concerns about traffic, urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
, and the city's capacity to provide services to new residents. City officials insist that Elgin's water plants have ample capacity to serve new residents. Elgin is known for the quality of its tap water, which in the past ten years has been named both the finest in Kane County and the finest in Illinois.
In the 1990s, Elgin became one of the few cities in northern Illinois to host a riverboat
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
. The Grand Victoria Casino
Grand Victoria Casino Elgin
The Grand Victoria Casino Elgin is a riverboat casino in Elgin, Illinois, located about west of Chicago. It is 50% owned and operated by RBG, LLP, a subsidiary of Hyatt, and 50% by a subsidiary of MGM Resorts International, which acquired Mandalay Resort Group, the former 50% partner company, in...
initially generated controversy, but has since proven a significant source of income for the city. Drawing nearly four million people annually, as of March 2005, it is the fifth most popular tourist attraction in Illinois. The Grand Victoria Foundation, to which the casino has contributed an amount in excess of $116 million, provides community grants to nonprofits in the city.
A significant Laotian
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
American community calls Elgin home. Elgin has been the sister city of Vientiane
Vientiane
-Geography:Vientiane is situated on a bend of the Mekong river, which forms the border with Thailand at this point.-Climate:Vientiane features a tropical wet and dry climate with a distinct monsoon season and a dry season. Vientiane’s dry season spans from November through March. April marks the...
, the capital of Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, since 1967. Some Laotian Americans have opened stores and restaurants, contributing to the city's cultural diversity.
Elgin's civic society is characterized by a large, diverse, and effective group of grassroots organizations, a sense of community pride and a spirit of volunteerism and participation. In recognition of this, for the second time, Elgin won the National Civic League's prestigious All-America City Award
All-America City Award
The All-America City Award is given by the National Civic League annually to ten cities in the United States.The oldest community recognition program in the nation, the award recognizes communities whose citizens work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and achieve uncommon...
in 2002.
Community Groups:
- Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin
- NorthEast Neighborhood Association
- Gifford Park Association
- South West Area Neighbors
Government
Elgin was chartered as a city by the State of Illinois in 1854, and 100 years later, became the first city in Illinois to adopt a Council-Manager form of government. Residents elect six at-large council members and a mayor, who serve on a part-time basis. The city council meets every other Wednesday at 6:00pm at City Hall. The city manager, a full-time professional, serves at the pleasure of the mayor and city council. Elgin's current mayor and city manager are Dave KaptainDave Kaptain
Dave Kaptain is the mayor of Elgin, Illinois. Kaptain won the April 2011 election by receiving 54.35% of the mayoral votes, defeating incumbent Ed Schock....
and Sean Stegall, respectively.
The city is represented in the Illinois legislature by Representatives Keith Farnham
Keith Farnham
Keith Farnham is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 43rd district since his election in 2008. The district includes portions of Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee and South Elgin....
(D), Timothy L. Schmitz
Timothy L. Schmitz
Timothy L. Schmitz is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 49th district since 1999. He is currently an Assistant Republican Leader...
(R), and Fred Crespo
Fred Crespo
Fred Crespo is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 44th district since 2007. This district lies entirely within Cook County and includes all of Streamwood, approximately half of Hoffman Estates and Hanover Park, and portions of Schaumburg, Elgin, and...
(D) and Senators Michael Noland
Michael Noland
Michael Noland is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 22nd District since 2007.Noland earned his bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his law degree from John Marshall Law School. He served as a Navy Corpsman while on active duty at the...
(D) and Chris Lauzen
Chris Lauzen
Christopher J. Lauzen is a Republican member of the Illinois State Senate. Lauzen was first elected in 1992, has been re-elected to the State Senate in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2010, and ran for Illinois Comptroller in 1998 and Congress in 2008...
(R). In the US House of Representatives, Elgin is represented by Randy Hultgren
Randy Hultgren
Randall Mark "Randy" Hultgren is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party.Hultgren previously represented the 48th district Senate seat in the Illinois General Assembly from 2007 - 2011...
(R), Peter Roskam
Peter Roskam
Peter James Roskam is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party and Chief Deputy Whip in the 112th Congress, ranking fourth among house Republican leaders; also served in the Illinois Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives.-Early life,...
(R), and Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
(R).
Elgin includes portions of Hanover Township
Hanover Township, Cook County, Illinois
Hanover Township is one of thirty townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA located at the end of the county's panhandle. As of the 2000 census, its population was 83,471.-Geography:...
in Cook County and Elgin Township
Elgin Township, Kane County, Illinois
Elgin Township is located in Kane County, Illinois. It is a square, of which is land and is water. It is divided by the Fox River. Its population in the 2000 Census was 90,384, the second largest in the county. It has 31,167 housing units....
, Plato Township, Rutland Township, Dundee Township, and Campton Township in Kane County. Elgin Township is governed by a supervisor (Annette Miller), clerk (Kurt Kojzarek http://www.kojzarek.org) and four trustees (Robert "Bob" Johnson, J. Patrick Hudgens, Vicki Pellock and Steve Thoren) elected to four year terms.
The Elgin fire department is the largest fire department in Illinois without a training officer, Fire Marshall or full time truck company.It currently runs 2 part time ambulances that double as part time truck companies.
Geography
Elgin is located at 42°2′22"N 88°17′19"W (42.039426, -88.288627).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 25.4 square miles (65.8 km²), of which, 25 square miles (64.7 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1 km²) of it (1.54%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 94,487 people, 31,543 households, and 22,395 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 3,779.1 people per square mile (1,459.3/km²). There were 32,665 housing units at an average density of 1,306.5 per square mile (504.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 70.49% White, 6.80% African American, 0.40% Native American, 3.88% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 15.39% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 34.32% of the population. A significant portion of Elgin's Asian population is of Laotian
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
origin.
There were 31,543 households out of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.49.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.0% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $52,605, and the median income for a family was $58,404. Males had a median income of $39,581 versus $28,488 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $21,112. About 6.4% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Elgin has three stations on MetraMetra
Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...
's Milwaukee District/West Line
Milwaukee District/West Line
The Milwaukee District/West is a commuter rail line provided and operated by Metra in Chicago, Illinois, and its surrounding suburbs...
, which provides daily rail service between Elgin and Chicago, Illinois (at Union Station
Union Station (Chicago)
Union Station is a major train station that opened in 1925 in Chicago, replacing an earlier 1881 station. It is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago, as well as being the city's primary terminal for commuter trains. The station stands on the west side of the Chicago River between Adams...
): National Street
National Street (Metra)
National Street is one of three stations on Metra's Milwaukee District/West in Elgin, Illinois. The station is away from Union Station, the eastern terminus of the line. In Metra's zone-based fare system, National Street is in zone H....
, Elgin
Elgin (Metra)
Elgin is one of three stations on Metra's Milwaukee District/West in Elgin, Illinois. The station is away from Union Station, the eastern terminus of the line. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Elgin is in zone H.-Bus connections:Pace...
, and Big Timber Road
Big Timber Road (Metra)
Big Timber Road is a commuter railroad station in the Kane County portion of Elgin, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. It is the western terminus for Metra's Milwaukee District/West Line, with service to Union Station in downtown Chicago....
. Big Timber Road is the western terminus of this service. The STAR Line would have a fourth station at the border with Bartlett.
Elgin also used to have a streetcar
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
system, operated by the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company
Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric
The Aurora Elgin & Fox River Electric , was an interurban railroad that operated freight and passenger service on its line paralleling the Fox River serving the communities of Yorkville, Montgomery, Aurora, North Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, South Elgin, Elgin, Dundee, and Carpentersville...
. Additionally, Elgin was served by several interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
lines. The most prominent of these was the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad
Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad
The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad , known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago, Illinois and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, and Elgin. The railroad also operated...
which provided frequent service into Chicago.
Local bus service is provided by PACE (the Suburban bus provider of the Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Authority). PACE operates about a dozen bus routes in the city with service running Monday through Saturday. Most of the routes terminate at the Elgin Bus Terminal located at 100 West Chicago Street in downtown. Routes generally run every half an hour and meet up at the terminal at the same time to provide convenient transferring. Several routes also travel out of Elgin to other nearby suburbs, such as Carpentersville, Dundee (Spring Hill Mall), Schaumburg (Woodfield Mall), and St. Charles (Charlestowne Mall and connecting bus service to Aurora and Geneva).
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
provides bus service from the Elgin bus terminal in downtown.
Sports
The City of Elgin is home to the Elgin RacersElgin Racers
The Elgin Racers are a franchise of the International Basketball League. They play their home games at the Lindner Fitness Center at Judson College in Elgin, Illinois.-2005 Season:...
of the International Basketball League
International Basketball League (2005-)
The International Basketball League is a professional men's spring basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast, Rocky Mountains, Western Canada, and the Midwest. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States...
.
Education
Four public school districts and 18 private schools serve Elgin.Public school districts serving Elgin:
- Elgin Area School District U46Elgin Area School District U46Elgin Area School District U46, often referred to as "U-46", is a unit school district headquartered in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. Covering , the district serves portions of eleven communities in the northwest suburbs of Chicago in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties. School District U-46 serves over...
- Elgin-based, serves most of Elgin
-
- U-46, the second largest school district in Illinois, serves an area of some 90 square miles (233.1 km²) in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties. Almost 40,000 children of school age are in its area. Elgin's two public high schools, Elgin High School and Larkin High SchoolLarkin High SchoolLarkin High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Elgin, Illinois, a north-west suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States...
, are home to the Gifted and Talented Academy and the Visual and Performing Arts Academy, respectively.- Community Unit School District 301Central Community Unit School District 301Central Community Unit School District 301 is a school district located mainly in Kane County, Illinois. It serves Burlington, Lily Lake, and portions of Elgin, Campton Hills, and Pingree Grove. In 2008, the district served 3,154 students across seven schools...
- Burlington-based, serves some western portions of Elgin - Community Unit School District 300Community Unit School District 300Community Unit School District 300 is a school district headquartered in Carpentersville, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago.The district is located in a northern Kane County and portions of southeastern McHenry County, Illinois...
- Carpentersville-based, serves some northwestern portions of Elgin - Community Unit School District 303Community Unit School District 303Community Unit School District 303 is a comprehensive K-12 public education system covering in the Fox Valley, west of Chicago.District 303 serves about 13,590 students from the City of St...
- St. Charles-based, serves some southwestern portions of Elgin
- Community Unit School District 301
- U-46, the second largest school district in Illinois, serves an area of some 90 square miles (233.1 km²) in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties. Almost 40,000 children of school age are in its area. Elgin's two public high schools, Elgin High School and Larkin High School
Private schools include:
- Beary Special Creations
- Highland Christian Academy
- Da Vinci Academy
- Einstein Academy
- Elgin Academy
- Fox River Country Day School
- Fox Valley Lutheran Academy
- Good Shepherd Lutheran School
- Northwest Baptist Academy
- St. Edward Central Catholic High School
- St. John's Lutheran School
- St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School
- St. Laurence Catholic Elementary School
- St. Mary Elementary School
- St. Thomas More Catholic Elementary School
- Westminster Christian SchoolWestminster Christian School (Elgin, Illinois)Westminster Christian School is a private school in Elgin, Illinois. The school is a ministry of the Westminster Presbyterian Church. It exists "to provide a high quality, Christ-centered, academic education to the children of believing parents in the greater Elgin area."The school was founded in...
Colleges and Universities:
- Elgin Community CollegeElgin Community CollegeElgin Community College is a U.S. post-secondary educational institution which awards Associate of Arts degrees. It was founded in 1949 as part of Elgin Area School District U46. Community College District #509 was formed 17 years later in 1966, a year after Illinois legislators created the...
serves the district #509 communities of St. Charles, Burlington, South Elgin, Wayne, Bartlett, Algonquin, Dundee, Hampshire and smaller towns, and is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. - Judson University, an accredited, four-year liberal artsLiberal artsThe term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
American BaptistAmerican BaptistAmerican Baptist may refer to:* American Baptist Association* American Baptist Churches USA* Baptist who is an American...
college sits on the banks of the Fox River on the city's northwest side. Judson features graduate programs in architecture and education. - National-Louis UniversityNational-Louis UniversityNational–Louis University is a private non-profit American university. NLU has campuses in and near Chicago, Illinois, as well as in Wisconsin, Florida, and Nowy Sącz, Poland. Many NLU courses and programs are also offered at-a-distance. The university practices multi-campus, at-a-distance, and...
is an accredited private non-profit undergraduate and graduate institution of higher learning, in colleges of education, arts and sciences, and business and management. - Providence Baptist College, a four-year Independent BaptistBaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
vocational collegeCollegeA college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
.
Commemorative coin
In 1936, a commemorativeUnited States commemorative coin
Commemorative coinage of the United States consists of coins that have been minted to commemorate a particular person, place, event, or institution. They are legal tender but are not intended for general circulation....
silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
half dollar was issued by the United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
commemorating the centennial of Elgin, Illinois. The coin was meant to raise money for the pioneer family memorial proposed by Elgin sculptor Trygve Rovelstad
Trygve Rovelstad
Trygve A. Rovelstad was a renowned sculptor and designer of medals. He was born to Norwegian immigrant parents in Elgin, Illinois...
, and sold for $1.50. The obverse features the profile of a pioneer with the dates 1673 * 1936, while the reverse features a pioneer family; both images are based on a centennial "Pioneer Medal" made by Rovelstad. The date 1673 is in reference to the expedition of Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
and Pere Marquette
Pere Marquette
Pere Marquette or Père Marquette may refer to:*Father Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary and namesake of Marquette University*Father Marquette National Memorial in Straits State Park...
, despite the fact that their journey took them nowhere near the future site of Elgin.
The coin did not prove to be a popular success, probably because of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the great variety of commemorative coins being issued at the time. Five thousand of the 25,000 coins initially minted were unsold and melted down by the mint. Rovelstad's pioneer statue was not installed until 2001.
Elgin in mass media
- Elgin was one of the communities around the Chicago metropolitan area affected by the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak on March 18, 1920.
- The television series RoseanneRoseanne (TV series)Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
was originally going to be set in Elgin , but was later changed to the fictional town of Lanford, which is described as a short distance from Elgin. At one point, Jackie attends a trucking school in Elgin. - In Unearthed, an episode of the television series Prison BreakPrison BreakPrison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...
, Dr. Sara Tancredi stayed at a motel in Elgin. - The exterior of the home in the television series Grace Under Fire is actually on Elgin's east side at 445 DuPage Street.
- The Elgin Mental Health Center appears in the movie Primal FearPrimal Fear (film)Primal Fear is a 1996 American crime drama thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit and starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton. The film tells the story of a defense attorney, Martin Vail , who defends an altar boy, Aaron Stampler , charged with the murder of a Catholic archbishop. The movie is an...
. - Part of the comedy film Dennis the MenaceDennis the Menace (film)Dennis the Menace is a 1993 live-action American family film based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name....
is set in Elgin. - Most parts of the suspense/thriller film "ContagionContagionContagion may refer to:In medicine:* Infectious disease, also known as contagious disease, with infection, or the infectious agent, also known as contagionIn media* Batman: Contagion, a story arc in the Batman comic book series...
" was filmed in Elgin.
External links
- City of Elgin
- Chicagoland's Northern Fox River Valley
- Elgin Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce
- Elgin Jaycees (Junior Chamber)
- Elgin Area Historical Society
- Elgin Community College
- Elgin news from the Daily Herald
- Elgin entry in Encyclopedia of Chicago
- Forest Preserves Around Elgin
- There Used To Be: A Look Back at Elgin's Architectural Heritage
- Elgin Lodge No. 117 A.F. & A.M.