Elgin ) is a city 40 mi. (64.5 km) northwest of Chicago, Illinois on the Fox River. Most of Elgin lies within Kane County, Illinois, with a portion in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 94,487, making it the eighth largest city in Illinois. Elgin is a diverse and rapidly growing community that was profiled in a 1997 issue of Money Magazine as a microcosm of the United States.
The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission forecasts Elgin will have a population of 162,416 in 2030.
Elgin is located at 42°2'22" North, 88°17'19" West (42.039426, -88.288627).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 65.8 km2 (25.4 mi2). 64.7 km2 (25.0 mi2) of it is land and 1.0 km2 (0.4 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 1.54% water.
As of the census of 2000, there are 94,487 people, 31,543 households, and 22,395 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,459.3/km2 (3,779.1/mi2). There are 32,665 housing units at an average density of 504.5/km2 (1,306.5/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 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. 34.32% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. A significant portion of Elgin's Asian population is of Laotian origin.
There are 31,543 households out of which 39.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% are married couples living together, 11.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% are non-families. 23.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.94 and the average family size is 3.49.
In the city the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $52,605, and the median income for a family is $58,404. Males have a median income of $39,581 versus $28,488 for females. The per capita income for the city is $21,112. 8.1% of the population and 6.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 11.6% of those under the age of 18 and 4.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
The Black Hawk Indian War of 1832 lead to the final expulsion of the Native Americans who had settlements and burial mounds in the area, and set the stage for the founding of Elgin. During the war, thousands of militiamen and soldiers of Gen. Winfield Scott's army marched through the Fox River valley. 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 to found the city in 1836, which they would name after the Scottish hymn The Song of Elgin.
The Giffords chose this site along the banks of the Fox because it was on the stagecoach route from Chicago to the booming lead mining town of Galena, Illinois and the river could be bridged there.
Early Elgin was famous for the butter and dairy goods it provided to Chicago, approximately 40 mi (60 km) away. Gail Borden established a condensed milk factory here in 1866, and today the local library bears his name. The dairy industry became less important with the arrival of the Elgin Watch Company, also known as The National Watch Company. The watch factory employed three generations of Elginites from the late 19th to early 20th century, when it was the largest producer of fine watches in the United States. Today, the clocks at Chicago's Union Station still bear the Elgin name.
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, 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.
Source:
ElginIllinois.com
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