Aurora, Illinois - City of Lights

Explore the Fox Valley!

Algonquin
Aurora
Batavia
Bolingbrook
Crystal Lake
Elgin
Elmhurst
Fox Lake
Geneva
Huntley
Naperville
North Aurora
Oswego
St. Charles
Sandwich
Sugar Grove
West Chicago
West Dundee
Yorkville

Named for Joseph and Samuel McCarty, brothers from New York state who built a sawmill there in 1834, McCarty's Mill was the original name of the city that was once home to about 500 Pottawatomie Indians and was incorporated in 1845 as Aurora. Humble, yet progressive and forward-thinking individuals helped establish first textile mills and gristmills, and later, heavy-machine building equipment that helped Aurora became a manufacturing center. In 1856 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad located its railcar construction and repair shops in Aurora to become the city's largest employer until the 1960s; the country's largest stone roundhouse remains testament to that fact today as Walter Payton's Roundhouse Entertainment Complex.

Illinois' second largest city - straddling Kane, DuPage and Kendall counties - Aurora is today a thriving metropolis with a population that has increased by more than 40% in the last decade of the 20th century. Multiple business parks fringe the city and the downtown area has seen a resurgence of welcome growth, helped by the addition of the Hollywood Riverboat Casino. Home to a wonderful mix of history, culture, entertainment and opportunity, Aurora is yet another gem hiding along the shores of the Fox River with much to be proud of. Come see the architecture, visit the parks and museums, enjoy a night on the town, dinner at one of the many fine restaurants in the area, or take in a Broadway show at the Paramount Theater... and consider staying for a night or two. There's far too much to see and do in a single day!