DuPage County, Illinois
Encyclopedia : D : DU : DUP : DuPage County, Illinois
DuPage County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Its county seat is Wheaton. According to the 2000 census, the population is 904,161. As of 2005, the estimated population is around 930,000. This county is part of Chicagoland. The county is divided into nine different townships: Downers Grove, Lisle, Naperville, York, Milton, Winfield, Addison, Bloomingdale & Wayne. DuPage is in the 630 area code.
The municipality that has the largest population enclosed within DuPage County is Naperville. Wheaton and Downers Grove are the next largest communities, respectively. A small portion of the City of Chicago is located within county limits but the 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 872 km² (337 mi²). 864 km² (334 mi²) of it is land and 8 km² (3 mi²) of it (0.88%) is water.The DuPage River and the Salt Creek flow through DuPage County.
Adjacent counties
- Cook County, Illinois (north, east, and south)
- Will County, Illinois (south)
- Kendall County, Illinois (southwest)
- Kane County, Illinois (west)
History
DuPage County was formed in 1839 out of Cook County. It is named after the DuPage River, which flows through it.Notable features
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 per capita income second only to Lake County, Illinois in the state, and 37th highest in the nation. Much of the county has not been incorporated into municipalities.[link]Architecture
The 31-story Oakbrook Terrace Tower, designed by Helmut Jahn, is the largest building in Illinois outside of Chicago[link]. The Elmhurst Art Museum is housed in a Mies Van Der Rohe building. There is a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Elmhurst. BAPS, a conservative Hindu sect, has built 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.Commerce
DuPage County is the primary location of the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor. It is home to many large corporations, including:- Laidlaw (Naperville, IL) (Fortune 500)
- McDonald's Corporation (Oak Brook, IL) (Fortune 500)
- Molex (Lisle, IL)
- Namco Cybertainment (Bensenville, IL)
- Navistar International Corporation (Warrenville, IL) (Fortune 500)
- Nicor (Naperville, IL) (S&P 500)
- OfficeMax (Itasca, IL)
- ServiceMaster (Downers Grove, IL) (Fortune 500)
- Tellabs (Naperville, IL)
Cuisine
Some of the notable restaurants in DuPage County include: Glen Ellyn's Pacific Blue, Mykha's, Cab's Wine Bar, Les Deux Autres, and Figo Ristorante; Downers Grove's Parker's Ocean Grill; Lombard's Bistro Banlieu, Naperville's Mason Sabika and Catch 35; and Wheaton's L'Anne.Two Brothers Brewing is a microbrewery in Warrenville. Other notable breweries include Lunar Brewing in Villa Park.
Education
DuPage County contains many colleges: Benedictine University, College of DuPage, the Naperville campus of DePaul University, the Addison campus of DeVry University, Elmhurst College, the Wheaton campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Lisle campus of National-Louis University, the National University of Health Sciences (formerly the National College of Chiropractic), the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, North Central College, Midwestern University, and Wheaton College. McDonald's has a training facility in Oakbrook called Hamburger University.It is also home to several private high schools, including Montini, Benet Academy, and Wheaton Academy.
Museums
DuPage museums include Wheaton College's Billy Graham Center, the Cantigny Estate and War Museum on the former estate of Chicago Tribune magnate Robert R. McCormick, 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)[link], 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, Lucky Boys Confusion, Spitalfield, and The Plain White T's. DuPage County is commemorated in the tongue-in-cheek tribute song, "DuPage Reprazent" by Suburban Murda.[link]Oakbrook Terrace's Drury Lane Theatre is the most important live theater in DuPage County.
Parks, trails, golf courses
37.5 square miles of DuPage County (9.0%) consists of forest preserve[link]. DuPage parks include Lisle's Morton Arboretum; Lombard's Lilacia Park; and Naperville's Centennial Beach.The Illinois Prairie Path, a 116-mile rail-to-trail multi-use path runs through the center of DuPage County. It intersects with the Great Western Trail at several points.
DuPage golf courses include Wheaton's Chicago Golf Club, the Medinah Country Club and Wheaton's Cantigny Golf Course.
Religion
DuPage county has hundreds of Christian churches, perhaps the most well-known being Wheaton Bible Church and Oakbrook Church of Christ. The Theosophical Society in Wheaton provides lectures and classes on Theosophy, meditation, yoga, and on Eastern and New Age spirituality. There are Hindu temples in Bartlett, Medinah, Bloomingdale, and Aurora. There is a Nichiren Shoshu Zen Buddhist temple in West Chicago[link] and synagogues in Lombard and Naperville.Science
Fermilab, which is the site of the most powerful particle accelerator in the world, is in Batavia, on the western side of DuPage. Argonne National Laboratory, one of the United States government's oldest and largest science and engineering research laboratories, is in an unincorporated area in southeast DuPage County. Both laboratories conduct tours of the facilities.Transportation
DuPage 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, Interstate 355, and Illinois Route 83. East-west roads (from north to south) include Illinois Route 19 (Irving Park Road), U.S. Route 20 (Lake Street), Army Trail Road, Illinois Route 64 (North Avenue), Illinois Route 38 (Roosevelt Road), Illinois Route 56 (Butterfield Road), Illinois Route 34 (Ogden Avenue) Interstate 88, and Interstate 55 (Stevenson Expressway).
Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 904,161 people, 325,601 households, and 234,432 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,046/km² (2,710/mi²). There were 335,621 housing units at an average density of 388/km² (1,006/mi²). 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.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 $67,887, and the median income for a family was $79,314. Males had a median income of $52,372 versus $35,450 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,315. 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
- Addison Township
- Bloomingdale Township
- Downers Grove Township
- Lisle Township
- Milton Township
- Naperville Township
- Wayne Township
- Winfield Township
- York Township
Cities and towns
- Addison
- Aurora - partly in Kane, Kendall and Will County
- Bartlett - partly in Cook County, very small parcel in Kane County
- Batavia - primarily in Kane County. Its northeastern boundary crosses into DuPage near Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, south of Fayban Parkway.
- Bensenville - small section in Cook County
- Bloomingdale
- Bolingbrook - partly in Will County
- Burr Ridge - partly in Cook County
- Carol Stream
- Chicago - A very small part of the City of Chicago covering a western section of O'Hare International Airport falls within DuPage County's boundaries.[link]
- Clarendon Hills
- Darien
- Downers Grove
- Elk Grove Village - primarily in Cook, only a small section south of Devon Ave. is located in DuPage County.
- Elmhurst
- Glen Ellyn
- Glendale Heights
- Hanover Park - partly in Cook County
- Hinsdale - partly in Cook County
- Itasca
- Lisle
- Lombard
- Medinah - unincorporated area
- Naperville - partly in Will County
- Oak Brook
- Oakbrook Terrace
- Roselle - partly in Cook County
- Schaumburg - primarily in Cook, only a very small section on the south end of town bisecting the Schaumburg Regional Airport is in DuPage County.
- St. Charles - primarily in Kane County. A very small section on the east side, including the Pheasant Run Resort, off North Ave. near the DuPage County Airport is located in DuPage County.
- Villa Park
- Warrenville
- Wayne - partly in Kane County
- West Chicago
- Westmont
- Wheaton
- Willowbrook - not to be confused with unincorporated Willowbrook, Will County, Illinois, a census-designated place.
- Winfield
- Wood Dale
- Woodridge - partly in Will County and a small parcel in Cook County
External links
- [DuPage County Website]
- [Forest Preserve District of DuPage County]
- [DuPage County Fair Grounds] in Wheaton, IL
- [Light Blue Extra - Dupage County music community]
- [DuPage Historical Society]
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