DuPage County, Illinois

DuPage County
County
Official seal of DuPage County Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 41°51′07″N 88°05′08″W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	1839
Seat	Wheaton
Area
• Total	337 sq mi (870 km2)
• Land	334 sq mi (870 km2)
• Water	3 sq mi (8 km2)  0.88%
Population  (2005)
• Total	930,000
• Density	2,780/sq mi (1,075/km2)
Website	www.co.dupage.il.us

DuPage County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Its county seat is the city of Wheaton. This county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. A special census in 2005 indicated the population to be 930,000, making it the second most populous county in Illinois after Cook County, which borders it to the north and east; the two counties account for half of the state's population. The population in 2010 is expected to reach 960,000. The county is divided into nine different townships: Addison, Bloomingdale, Downers Grove, Lisle, Milton, Naperville, Wayne, Winfield and York. The majority of DuPage County is in the 630 and 331 area codes. However, the areas of the county that are in the City of Chicago are in area code 773, primarily part of O'Hare International Airport.

Long known as one of the nation's wealthiest counties, DuPage County has transformed itself from a primarily agricultural economy to one rich in many different types of commerce. Today, DuPage County boasts a personal per capita income which is the highest in the state. DuPage County's per capita income is also the highest in the midwest; nineteen of the county's towns have average household incomes of over $100,000.

The most populous municipality within DuPage County is Naperville. The next largest communities are Wheaton and Downers Grove. A small portion of the City of Chicago is located within the county limits; however, this area is primarily commercial and as of recent census estimates, has only 230 residents.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 337 sq mi (873 km²), of which, 334 sq mi (865 km²) of it is land and 3 sq mi (7.8 km²) of it is water. The DuPage River and the Salt Creek flow through DuPage County. According to the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, the highest point in the county is located at the Mallard Lake Landfill, which at its highest point is 982 feet (299 m) above mean sea level.

Adjacent counties

Counties that are adjacent to DuPage include:

• Cook County (north and east)
• Will County (south)
• Kendall County (southwest)
• Kane County (west)

History

Warrenville Grove Forest Preserve on the West Branch of the DuPage River

DuPage County was formed in 1839 out of Cook County. The county took its name from the DuPage River, which was, in turn, named after a French fur trapper, DuPage. The first written history to address the name, the 1882 History of DuPage County, Illinois, by Rufus Blanchard, relates:

The DuPage River had, from time immemorial, been a stream well known. It took its name from a French trader who settled on this stream below the fork previous to 1800. Hon. H. W. Blodgett, of Waukegan, informs the writer that J. B. Beaubien had often spoken to him of the old Frenchman, Du Page, whose station was on the bank of the river, down toward its mouth, and stated that the river took its name from him. The county name must have the same origin. Col Gurden S. Hubbard, who came into the country in 1818, informs the writer that the name DuPage, as applied to the river then, was universally known, but the trader for whom it was named lived there before his time. Mr. Beaubien says it is pronounced Du Pazhe (a having the sound of ah, and that the P should be a capital). This was in reply to Mr. Blodgett’s inquiry of him concerning the matter.

Notable features

Architecture

The 31-story Oakbrook Terrace Tower in Oakbrook Terrace, designed by Helmut Jahn, is the tallest building in Illinois outside of Chicago. The Elmhurst Art Museum is housed in a Mies Van Der Rohe building. There is a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Elmhurst. Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a conservative Hindu sect, has built BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Chicago, a large, intricately carved, marble temple in Bartlett. There are many Sears Catalog Homes in Downers Grove. The Byzantine-style clubhouse of the Medinah Country Club is also an architectural highlight of the county. Lombard is home to over thirty Lustron prefabricated steel homes.

Commerce

DuPage County is the primary location of the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor. It is home to many large corporations, including:

• Ace Hardware (Oak Brook)
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Itasca) (Fortune 1000)
• BP (formerly British Petroleum) (Warrenville)
• DeVry Inc. (Oakbrook Terrace) (NYSE)
• Eby-Brown (Naperville)
• Hub Group (Downers Grove) (Fortune 1000)
• McDonald's Corporation (Oak Brook) (Fortune 500)
• Molex (Lisle) (Fortune 1000)
• Nalco Holding Company (Naperville) (Fortune 1000)
• Namco Cybertainment (Bensenville)
• Navistar International (Warrenville) (Fortune Global 500)
• Nicor (Naperville) (Fortune 1000)
• OfficeMax (Naperville) (Fortune 500)
• SIRVA (Westmont) (Fortune 1000)
• Tellabs (Naperville) (Fortune 1000)
• Ty Warner (Beanie Babies) (Westmont)

Shopping malls in DuPage County include Oakbrook Center, which is the largest open air mall in the nation, Westfield Fox Valley, Yorktown Center, Town Square Wheaton, and Stratford Square Mall. In addition, many of DuPage County's towns have prosperous and quaint downtown areas, especially in Naperville, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Downers Grove and Hinsdale, which are mixed with boutiques, upscale chain stores and restaurants.

Education

File:Hamburger University.jpg

The campus of McDonald's Hamburger University.

The College of DuPage, in Glen Ellyn, is one of the largest community colleges in the U.S. Wheaton College is one of the most well-known and respected evangelical Christian colleges in the country. Benedictine University, Elmhurst College and North Central College also have long and respected histories in their communities.

Other DuPage colleges include: the Addison campus of DeVry University; the Lisle campus of National-Louis University; Midwestern University in Downers Grove; the Naperville campus of DePaul University; National University of Health Sciences and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard; and the Wheaton campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology. Hamburger University, McDonald's global training facility, is located at its corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, on an 80-acre (320,000 m²) campus.

DuPage County is also home to several private high schools, including:

• Benet Academy
• College Preparatory School of America
• Driscoll Catholic High School
• Islamic Foundation School
• Marmion Academy
• Montini Catholic High School (Lombard, Illinois)
• St. Francis High School (Wheaton, Illinois)
• Timothy Christian School
• Wheaton Academy

Additionally, Dupage County is home to many academically and athletically successful public high schools, such as:

• Bartlett High School
• Downers Grove North High School
• Downers Grove South High School
• Glenbard East High School
• Glenbard North High School
• Glenbard South High School
• Glenbard West High School
• Hinsdale Central High School
• Hinsdale South High School
• Naperville North High School
• Naperville Central High School
• Waubonsie Valley High School
• West Chicago Community High School
• Westmont High School
• Wheaton North High School
• Wheaton Warrenville South High School
• Willowbrook High School
• York Community High School

Government

Presidential elections results

Year	Republican	Democrat
2008	44.3% 182,860	55.1% 217,416
2004	54.4% 218,902	44.8% 180,097
2000	55.2% 201,037	41.9% 152,550
1996	50.7% 164,630	40.0% 129,709
1992	48.1% 178,271	30.9% 114,564
1988	69.4% 217,907	30.0% 94,285
1984	75.7% 227,141	23.8% 71,430
1980	64.0% 182,308	24.2% 68,991
1976	68.8% 175,055	28.3% 72,137
1972	75.0% 172,341	24.8% 57,043
1968	66.6% 124,893	25.9% 48,492
1964	59.9% 98,871	40.1% 66,229
1960	69.5% 101,014	30.4% 44,263

DuPage County government is most infamous for the prosecution and conviction of an innocent man. Rolando Cruz, a Hispanic man from Aurora, Illinois, was indicted and convicted of the murder of 10 year-old Jeanine Nicarico. Cruz spent ten years on death row, but all charges against Cruz were eventually dropped. The murder case was never solved. Seven policemen and State's Attornies ("The DuPage Seven") were charged with 47 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice and framing Cruz. The men were found not guilty. The public outcry over the case eventually resulted in Illinois Governor George Ryan instituting a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois.

Hospitals

DuPage hospitals include: Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield; Edward Hospital in Naperville; Elmhurst Memorial Hospital in Elmhurst; Adventist Hinsdale Hospital in Hinsdale; Advocate Good Samaritan in Downers Grove and Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights.

Museums

DuPage museums include the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville, Wheaton College's Billy Graham Center, the Cantigny Estate and First Division Museum on the former estate of Chicago Tribune magnate Robert R. McCormick, the DuPage County Historical Museum, Hinsdale's Graue Mill, Elmhurst's Lizzadro Lapidary Museum, Oak Brook's Mayslake Peabody Estate, Naperville's Naper Settlement, the Elmhurst Art Museum, housed in a Mies Van Der Rohe building and Glen Ellyn's Stacy's Tavern.

Music and Theater

DuPage also plays host to a rich, local music scene. Some of the better-known bands to come out of the area include: Material Issue; The Hush Sound; Lucky Boys Confusion; Spitalfield and The Plain White T's.

Oakbrook Terrace's Drury Lane Theatre is an important live theatre in DuPage County. The Tivoli Theatre, one of the first theaters in the United States to be equipped with sound, is still in use in Downers Grove. In addition to showing movies, the Tivoli is home to several local performing arts groups.

Parks, trails, golf courses

Main article: Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

A woodland ecosystem in Morton Arboretum.

37.5 sq mi (97.1 km²) of DuPage County consists of forest preserves. DuPage parks include: Lisle's Morton Arboretum; Westmont's Ty Warner Park; Lombard's Lilacia Park and Naperville's Centennial Beach.

The Illinois Prairie Path, a 116-mile (187 km) rail-to-trail multi-use path, runs through the center of DuPage County. It intersects with the Great Western Trail at several points, as well as the Fox River trail at a few points.

DuPage golf courses include: Wheaton's Chicago Golf Club and Cantigny Golf Courses; the Medinah Country Club; Glen Ellyn's Village Links and Glen Oak Country Club; Addison's Oak Meadows; Wood Dale's Maple Meadows; Westmont's Green Meadows; Lisle's River Bend (9 Holes); West Chicago's St. Andrews Golf & Country Club and Winfield's Klein Creek Golf Club.

Religion

DuPage County has several hundred Christian churches. Community Christian Church of Naperville was named the 13th most influential church in the nation by "The Church Report" and the College Church of Wheaton was ranked 37th. Other well-known churches include the Wheaton Bible Church and Christ Church of Oak Brook. There is also a large Catholic contingency, led by the Diocese of Joliet and a Ukrainian Orthodox temple in Glendale Heights.

The Theosophical Society of America in Wheaton, the North American headquarters of the Theosophical Society Adyar, provides lectures and classes on Theosophy, meditation, yoga, Eastern and New Age spirituality. Islamic mosques are located in Villa Park, Naperville and Glendale Heights. There are Hindu temples in Bartlett, Bensenville, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Itasca and Medinah, and an Arya Samaj center in West Chicago. There is a Nichiren Shōshū Zen Buddhist temple in West Chicago and a Theravada Buddhist Temple, called the Buddha-Dharma Meditation Center, in Willowbrook. There are reform synagogues in Lombard and Naperville.

Science

Aerial view of the Tevatron particle accelerator at the Fermilab site.

Fermilab, which has the highest-energy particle accelerator in the world, is in Batavia, Illinois, where it straddles the border between Kane and DuPage counties. Argonne National Laboratory, one of the United States government's oldest and largest science and engineering research laboratories, is in unincorporated, southeast DuPage County. Both laboratories conduct tours of their facilities.

Transportation

For a more comprehensive list, see List of County Highways in DuPage County, Illinois.

Aside from the part of O'Hare International Airport that lies in the county, DuPage also has many railroads and several small airports, including DuPage Airport. DuPage is served by the Pace bus system.

North-south roads (from west to east) include: Illinois Route 59 (Sutton Road); Illinois Route 53 (Rohlwing Road); Interstate 355 (the North-South Tollway) and Illinois Route 83 (Kingery Highway). East-west roads (from south to north) include: Interstate 55 (Stevenson Expressway); Interstate 88 (East-West Tollway; U.S. Route 34 (Ogden Avenue); Illinois Route 56 (Butterfield Road); Illinois Route 38 (Roosevelt Road); Illinois Route 64 (North Avenue); Army Trail Road; U.S. Route 20 (Lake Street); Illinois Route 19 (Irving Park Road) and the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, which begins at the Thorndale Ave exit of I-290 and ends on Lake St. (U.S. Rte 20), in Hanover Park.

Demographics

DuPage County Population by year

2010 - 960,516 2000 - 904,161 1990 - 781,666 1980 - 658,835 1970 - 491,882 1960 - 313,459 1950 - 154,599 1940 - 103,480 1930 - 91,998 1920 - 42,120 1910 - 33,432 1900 - 28,196 1890 - 22,551 1880 - 19,161 1870 - 16,685 1860 - 14,701 1850 - 9,290 1840 - 3,535

2000 census age pyramid for DuPage County.

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 904,161 people, 325,601 households and 234,432 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,710 people per square mile (1,046/km²). There were 335,621 housing units, at an average density of 1,006 per square mile (388/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.05% White, 3.05% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 7.88% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.12% from other races and 1.71% from two or more races. 9.00% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.3% were of German, 11.8% Irish, 11.0% Italian, 9.8% Poles and 5.1% English ancestry according to the Census. 79.3% spoke English, 7.7% Spanish, 1.5% Polish and 1.2% Tagalog as their first language.

There were 325,601 households, out of which 37.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.90% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present and 28.00% were non-families. 22.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.70% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 32.40% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64 and 9.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.20 males. For every 100 females, age 18 and over, there were 94.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $75,128 and the median income for a family was $89,402. Males had a median income of $60,909 versus $41,346 for females. The mean or average income for a family in DuPage County is $110,975, according to the 2005 census. The per capita income for the county was $35,546. About 2.40% of families and 3.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.90% of those under age 18 and 4.30% of those age 65 or over.

Townships by population

DuPage County has nine townships (listed in order of population, largest to smallest):

• Downers Grove Township - 148,110
• York Township - 124,553
• Milton Township - 118,616
• Lisle Township - 117,604
• Bloomingdale Township - 111,709
• Addison Township - 88,900
• Naperville Township - 85,736
• Wayne Township - 63,776
• Winfield Township - 45,155

Median house values and average household income

The median house values of each municipality in DuPage County as of 2008, are as follows, listed alphabetically and in parenthesis are the median family incomes:

• Addison: $305,017 ($74,822)
• Aurora: $228,846 ($75,695) (Aurora only partially lies in DuPage County)
• Bartlett: $325,348 ($97,990) (A portion of Bartlett lies in Cook County)
• Batavia: $354,552 ($90,272) (Only a small part of Batavia lies in DuPage County)
• Bensenville: $273,200 ($67,033)
• Bloomingdale: $407,699 ($98,759)
• Bolingbrook: $270,110 ($83,981) (Bolingbrook lies mainly in Will County)
• Burr Ridge: $1,127,704 ($190,572)
• Carol Stream: $296,726 ($84,939)
• Clarendon Hills: $773,684 ($146,251)
• Darien: $370,174 ($103,412)
• Downers Grove: $459,851 ($93,960)
• Elk Grove Village: $337,275 ($77,638) (Elk Grove Village lies mostly in Cook County)
• Elmhurst: $528,360 ($107,140)
• Glen Ellyn: $511,371 ($119,811)
• Glendale Heights: $235,419 ($72,804)
• Hanover Park: $230,631 ($76,475) (Hanover Park lies mainly in Cook County)
• Hinsdale: $1,234,621 ($214,312)
• Itasca: $446,789 ($102,704)
• Lemont: $429,470 ($91,652) (Lemont lies mainly in Cook County)
• Lisle: $381,022 ($101,145)
• Lombard: $308,337 ($80,809)
• Medinah: (not listed) ($112,102)
• Naperville: $505,980 ($122,454) (Naperville also lies in Will County)
• Oak Brook: $1,104,389 ($203,882)
• Oakbrook Terrace: $274,500 ($112,375)
• Roselle: $341,425 ($89,517)
• Schaumburg: $350,930 ($79,835) (Schaumburg also lies in Cook County)
• St. Charles: $477,307 ($104,599) (St. Charles lies mainly in Kane County)
• Villa Park: $266,973 ($71,061)
• Warrenville: $293,833 ($89,770)
• Wayne: $617,778 ($192,604)
• West Chicago: $299,227 ($90,016)
• Westmont: $381,447 ($85,415)
• Wheaton: $416,077 ($119,784)
• Willowbrook: $515,338 ($101,132)
• Winfield: $397,891 ($136,304)
• Wood Dale: $322,725 ($79,280)
• Woodridge: $317,740 ($86,146)

See also

• List of counties in Illinois

External links

• DuPage County Website
• DuPage County Fair Grounds in Wheaton
• DuPage County Historical Society
• DuPage Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
• Forest Preserve District of DuPage County Golf Facilities