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is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, ], with a population of 168,181 (2007 est.), and part of Chicagoland. The city refers to itself as "The City of Lights" because it was one of the first cities in the United States to implement an all-electric street lighting system in 1881. Aurora officially adopted the nickname in 1908.
Before white settlers arrived, there was a Native American village in what is today downtown Aurora, on the banks of the Fox River. In 1834, the McCarty brothers arrived and initially owned land on both sides of the river, but sold their lands on the west side. The Lake Brothers opened a mill on the opposite side of the river. The McCarty's lived and operated their mill on the east side. Aurora was originally two villages: one on the East Side of the Fox River A post office was established in 1837, officially creating Aurora. In 1857, Aurora (then what is now known as the East Side) joined with the West Side and officially incorperated. The Aurora Fire Department was established in 1856, and took ownership of its first fire engine that year. The two sides couldn’t agree on which side of the river should house the public buildings, so most public buildings were built on or around Stolp Island in the middle of the Fox River. (A parking garage stands at the site of the original City Hall and Post Office.)
As the city grew, many factories and jobs came to Aurora, along with many people. In 1856, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad located its railcar construction and repair shops in Aurora to become the town's largest employer until the 1960s. Many of the heavy industries were located on the East side which provided employment for many generations of European immigrants. Many immigrants flocked to the city, mainly from Great Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Luxembourg, Germany, France, and Italy.The professional and managerial workers more likely came from Yankee stock and settled across the river, making the West side more affluent. Aurora became main economic center of the Fox Valley area. The combination of these three factors—a highly industrialized town, a sizable river that divided it, and the Burlington's shops—account for much of the dynamics of Aurora's political, economic, and social history. Both sides of Aurora still maintain a rivalry which is enacted through yearly high school football/basketball games. This is the oldest high school rivalry in the state of Illinois.
Beginning in the boom period, the town was inclusive and tolerant, and welcomed a variety of immigrants and openly supporting abolitionism prior to the American Civil War. Mexican migrants began arriving after 1910. Socially, the town was progressive in its attitude toward education, religion, welfare, and women. The first free public school district in Illinois was established in 1851 and a high school for girls four years later. By 1887, 20 congregations (including two African American churches) representing nine denominations were established, and a YWCA started in 1893, still in operation today.
The city was a manufacturing powerhouse until 1974, when the railroad shops closed. Soon many other factories and industrial areas relocated or went out of business. By 1980, there were few operating industrial areas in the city, and unemployment soared to 16%. Although development of the Far East side at Fox Valley Mall brought stimulus, it helped lead to the decline of the downtown area on Stolp Island. Crime rates were up and street gangs started to form in the mid 1980's. Many Hispanic immigrants also started coming to the city in the 1980s as well. In the late 1980s, several business and industrial parks were established on the outskirts of the city. In 1993, a 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 outside of Aurora. Subdivisions sprouted up all around the city, especially in Dupage County, and Aurora's population soared. Today, approximately 70,000 of the city's residents live in these areas of the city.