Downers Grove, IL
| Downers Grove | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
| Village of Downers Grove | |
Orange Lyman Home, constructed in 1839; purported to be a stop on the Underground Railroad.
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 Location of Downers Grove in DuPage County, Illinois. |
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.svg) Location of Illinois in the United States |
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| Coordinates: 41°47′41″N 88°01′01″W / 41.79472°N 88.01694°WCoordinates: 41°47′41″N 88°01′01″W / 41.79472°N 88.01694°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | DuPage |
| Townships | Downers Grove, Lisle, York |
| Founded | 1832 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-manager |
| • Mayor | Martin T. Tully |
| Area | |
| • Total | 14.66 sq mi (37.97 km2) |
| • Land | 14.51 sq mi (37.58 km2) |
| • Water | 0.15 sq mi (0.39 km2) |
| Elevation | 705 ft (215 m) |
| Highest elevation | 741 ft (226 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 47,833 |
| • Estimate (2016) | 49,473 |
| • Density | 3,409.81/sq mi (1,316.53/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 60515, 60516, 60517 |
| Area code(s) | 630 and 331 |
| FIPS code | 17-20591 |
| GNIS ID | 2398745 |
| Website | www.downers.us |
Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. Approximately 20 miles from the Loop. The most recent census estimate tallied 49,715 residents in 2014.
Downers Grove was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, a religious evangelist from Wampsville, New York. Its other early settlers included the Blodgett, Curtiss, and Carpenter families. The original settlers were mostly migrants from the Northeastern United States and Northern Europe. The first schoolhouse was built in 1844.
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was extended from Aurora to Chicago through Downers Grove in 1862, boosting its population. The town was incorporated in March 1873. Its somewhat unusual spelling ("Apostrophe-free since 1873") remains a minor historical mystery.
In April 1947 the wreck of a Burlington Railroad Twin Cities Zephyr passenger train killed three people, including the engineer. The streamliner struck a large tractor which had fallen from a freight train and two passenger cars crashed through a wall of the Main Street Station.
The construction of two major toll roads along the village's northern and western boundaries, I-355 in 1989 and what is now referred to as I-88 in 1958, facilitated its access to the rest of Chicago metropolitan area. Downers Grove has developed into a bustling Chicago suburb with many diverse businesses, including the headquarters for Devry University, FTD, Ambitech Engineering Corp, Dover, Heartland Food Corporation, and HAVI Global Solutions.
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