Elmhurst

• Name — Elmhurst, Illinois • Type — City • Image Flag — Flag of Elmhurst, Illinois.png • Image Seal — Elmhurst Seal.png • Motto — * "Close to Everything, Unlike Anything" • "Ideal for your business, your family, your life" • Mapframe — yes • Mapframe Point — none • Pushpin Map — United States Chicago Greater#Illinois#USA • Pushpin Relief — yes • Pushpin Label — Elmhurst • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — United States • Subdivision Type1 — State • Subdivision Name1 — Illinois • Subdivision Type2 — Counties • Subdivision Name2 — DuPage, Cook • Subdivision Type3 — Townships • Subdivision Name3 — Addison, York, and Proviso • Established Title — Incorporated • Established Date — 1882 06 05 • Government Type — Council–manager • Leader Title — Mayor • Unit Pref — Imperial • Area Total Sq Mi — 10.28 • Area Land Sq Mi — 10.22 • Area Water Sq Mi — 0.06 • Area Total Km2 — 26.62 • Area Land Km2 — 26.47 • Area Water Km2 — 0.15 • Population As Of — 2020 • Population Total — 45786 • Population Density Sq Mi — 4480.92 • Population Density Km2 — 1730.02 • Demographics Type1 — Standard of living (2015-19) • Demographics1 Title1 — Per capita income • Demographics1 Info1 — $57,881 • Demographics1 Title2 — Median home value • Demographics1 Info2 — $432,600 • Time Zone1 — Central • Utc Offset1 — -6 • Time Zone1 Dst — Central • Utc Offset1 Dst — -5 • Elevation Ft — 689 • Postal Code Type — ZIP Code • Postal Code — 60126, 60127 • Area Code Type — Area codes • Area Code — 630 and 331 • Custom Label Sec1 — FIPS code • Custom Label1 Sec1 — GNIS ID • Custom Data1 Sec1 — 2394673 Elmhurst is a city in DuPage and Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 45,786 at the 2020 census.

• Illustration — Elmhurst Station ca. 1890s 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 the community, giving farmers easier access to Chicago. The first Elmhurst railroad station was built in 1894. The community changed its name to Elmhurst in 1869, and in 1871 Elmhurst University was organized. The land for Elmhurst University was gifted by prominent resident Thomas Barbour Bryan. Bryan (often referred to as the "Father of Elmhurst") played an important role in the development of the town, and has been as the one responsible for renaming the town. 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. In 2014, Family Circle magazine ranked Elmhurst as one of the "Ten Best U.S. Towns for Families".

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Elmhurst has a total area of 10.28 sqmi, of which 10.22 sqmi (or 99.42%) is land and 0.06 sqmi (or 0.58%) is water. Due to local topography, the town has had a tendency to flood in the past after large rainfalls; the city is currently undertaking a large effort to mitigate future flooding.

As of the 2020 census, Elmhurst had a population of 45,786. The population density was 4,454.76 PD/sqmi. There were 17,260 housing units at an average density of 1,679.32 /sqmi; 5.5% were vacant, with a homeowner vacancy rate of 2.5% and a rental vacancy rate of 7.5%. There were 16,317 households, of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 61.7% were married-couple households, 12.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 22.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older; 12,110 were families. The median age was 40.6 years. 25.1% of residents were under the age of 18, 8.6% were from 18 to 24, 21.3% were from 25 to 44, 28.4% were from 45 to 64, and 16.8% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.3 males age 18 and over. 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas. Racial composition as of the 2020 census • Race — Number — Percent • White — 36,844 — 80.5% • Black or African American — 982 — 2.1% • American Indian and Alaska Native — 120 — 0.3% • Asian — 2,982 — 6.5% • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander — 8 — 0.0% • Some other race — 1,338 — 2.9% • Two or more races — 3,512 — 7.7% • Hispanic or Latino (of any race) — 4,269 — 9.3%

The median income for a household in the city was $123,869, and the median income for a family was $148,663. Males had a median income of $83,584 versus $46,935 for females. The per capita income for the city was $59,911. About 2.1% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

According to Elmhurst's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: • # — Employer — # of Employees • 1 — Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare — 2,800 • 2 — Elmhurst CUSD 205 — 1,174 • 3 — McMaster-Carr Supply Company — 800 • 4 — Elmhurst University — 688 • 5 — Brandenburg Industrial Service Co — 300 • 6 — Semblex Corporation — 300 • 7 — City of Elmhurst — 291 • 8 — FedEx Freight — 200 • 9 — Superior Ambulance — 200 • 10 — Power Distributing, LLC — 180

• The Theatre Historical Society of America is focused on the preservation of dance, opera, and movie theaters and includes a collection of objects from many theaters that are no longer in existence. Among the items on display is a scale model of the 1927 Avalon Theater (now known as the New Regal Theater). • Wilder Park Conservatory • A 150 ft limestone quarry covering about 59 acre is located half a mile west of downtown along West Avenue and 1st Street. A tunnel from Salt Creek diverts water into the quarry in case of a flood. The Salt Creek Trail is also accessible from the area. The quarry is an important piece of DuPage County's stormwater management system, and can hold up to 8300 acre-ft of stormwater. • Each spring, the company RGL Marketing for the Arts runs the event, Art in Wilder Park. The event takes place in centrally located Wilder Park, which is also home to the Wilder Mansion, the Elmhurst Public Library, the Wilder Park Conservatory and the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art. The event "features of a juried show of fine arts, crafts and original creations of over 100 artists, including jewelry, glass, ceramics, painting, wood, photography, sculpture, paper and mixed media." The event also hosts live music and entertainment and over 40 food vendors. • Elmhurst is home to multiple residential homes built by significant architects, including but not limited to Mies van der Rohe (McCormick House), Frank Lloyd Wright (F.B. Henderson House), Walter Burley Griffin (William H. Emery House, Sloane House), and R. Harold Zook.

• Illustration — The F.B. Henderson House in Elmhurst was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1901. Timeline for Elmhurst's leadership: • 1882 - Incorporated as a village in June. • 1882 - Henry Glos elected as first village president. • 1887 - Peter Wolf elected as village president. • 1902 - Edwin Heidemann elected as village president. • 1905 - Henry C. Schumacher elected as village president. • 1908 - C. J. Albert elected as village president. • 1910 - Adopted city form of government. • 1910 - Henry C. Schumacher elected as first city mayor. • 1912 - F. W. M. Hammerschmidt elected as mayor. • 1919 - Otto Balgemann elected as mayor. • 1931 - Edward Blatter elected as mayor. • 1933 - Claude Van Auken elected as mayor. • 1945 - William S. Fellows elected as mayor. • 1951 - Ervin F. Wilson elected as mayor. • 1957 - Benjamin Allison elected as mayor. • 1961 - Charles Weigel elected as mayor. • 1973 - Ray W. Fick Jr. elected as mayor. • 1977 - Abner Ganet elected as mayor. • 1985 - Robert J. Quinn elected as mayor. • 1989 - Charles H. Garrigues elected as mayor. • 1993 - Thomas D. Marcucci elected as mayor. • 2009 - Peter P. DiCianni elected as mayor. • 2013 - Steven Morley elected as mayor. • 2021 - Scott M. Levin elected as mayor.

• Illustration — The Old Main building at Elmhurst University dates to 1878. Elmhurst University is a 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: • Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 serves most of the city; its high school is York Community High School • Villa Park School District 45 • Salt Creek School District 48 • DuPage High School District 88 (Salt Creek and Villa Park SDs feed into this one) • Hillside School District 93 serves the Cook County portion; in 1953 this portion had 45 houses • Students at Hillside 93 move on to Proviso West High School of the Proviso Township High Schools District 209. Private schools: • IC Catholic Prep, formerly Immaculate Conception High School • Timothy Christian School • Immaculate Conception Grade School • Immanuel Lutheran Grade School • Visitation Catholic Grade School

Elmhurst is served by Pace buses, and the Metra Union Pacific West Line through the Elmhurst station. The Union Pacific Railroad has freight service on the Metra line and the Canadian National Railway serves the former Illinois Central line south of the Metra line, known as the Freeport Subdivision. O'Hare International Airport is roughly 18 minutes from Elmhurst, and Chicago Midway International Airport is roughly 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.

Elmhurst was previously served by the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, an electric interurban rail line. The station opened in 1902 as "South Elmhurst" until being renamed to "York St." The station closed in 1959 after the CA&E ceased operations. The Illinois Prairie Path now runs over the former line. The Chicago Great Western also served Elmhurst. It had commuter rail between Grand Central Station and DeKalb until 1906.