North Aurora History
Originally known as Schneider’s Crossing, North Aurora began with the arrival of two adventurous brothers who decided that their search was over when they reached this particular place. John Peter and Nicholas Schneider left their home near Frankfort-on-the-Rhine to set off on a great adventure. They secured passage on a sailboat to America, and reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1824. The brothers found work as carpenters and millwrights.
In 1832, John Peter and his family traveled westward via rivers and Lake Michigan to Michigan. They took up their journey again in 1833, and got as far as what is now known as Naperville. Nicholas joined his brother shortly thereafter, and they built a sawmill at the mouth of Blackberry Creek near Yorkville.
Nicholas remained on the property, but John continued on into the Fox River Valley, settling with his family on the east side of the river on a hill near the site of the present Village Hall. In 1837, a dam was constructed to provide power to the mill. The commercial activity surrounding the mill attracted a few other families. By the turn of the century, approximately 300 people lived in town. In 1905, North Aurora was incorporated as a village.
In the early 1900s, Aurora became a hub of industry and railroading. Some of the railroad workers chose to live in North Aurora, triggering the Village’s moderate but steady growth until the 1960s. The 1960s ushered in an era when the character of the whole Fox River Valley changed; it transformed from a relatively local, freestanding economy where residents lived and worked into a more suburban experience where residents commuted to job centers located east of the valley.
At first, residents accessed jobs through the commuter train system. Later, they drove to job sites that had moved out of the metropolitan core and located along expressways. The movement of jobs continues to this day, and it still generates residential growth in North Aurora. By the most recent census and Village estimates, there are now approximately 14,000 residents.
The 100th birthday of North Aurora will be celebrated the first weekend in August during North Aurora Days, a three-day festival of family entertainment and events.
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