Naperville, Illinois

Naperville, Illinois
City of Naperville
City
Jefferson Avenue in downtown Naperville.
Coat of arms
Motto: Great Service - All the Time
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Counties	DuPage, Will
Townships	Lisle (DuPage), Milton (DuPage), Naperville (DuPage), Winfield (DuPage), DuPage (Will), Wheatland (Will)
River	DuPage
Elevation	702 ft (214 m)
Coordinates	41°44′53″N 88°09′56″W / 41.74806°N 88.16556°W / 41.74806; -88.16556Coordinates: 41°44′53″N 88°09′56″W / 41.74806°N 88.16556°W / 41.74806; -88.16556
Area	39.32 sq mi (102 km2)
- land	38.77 sq mi (100 km2)
- water	0.55 sq mi (1 km2), 1.4%
Population	147,100 (2015 estimate)
Density	4,025.38/sq mi (1,554/km2)
Settled	1831
- Incorporated	1857 (Village) 1890 (City)
Government	Council–manager
Mayor	Steve Chirico (R)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	60540, 60563-60565, and PO BOX Only Codes 60566-60567
Area codes	630 and 331
Location of Naperville within Illinois
Website: www.naperville.il.us

Naperville is a city in DuPage and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a suburb of Chicago. Naperville was voted the second-best place to live in the United States by Money magazine in 2006. It was rated 1st on the list of best cities for early retirement in 2013 by Kiplinger. In a 2010 study, Naperville was named the wealthiest city in the Midwest and eleventh in the nation with a population over 75,000. It was ranked among the nation's safest cities by USAToday. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 141,853, which was estimated to have increased to 147,100 by July 2015. It is the fifth-largest city in Illinois.

In July 1831, Joseph Naper arrived at the west bank of the DuPage River with his family and friends to found what would be known as Naper's Settlement. Among those original settlers were Naper's wife Almeda Landon, his brother John with wife Betsy Goff, his sister Amy with husband John Murray, and his mother Sarah. Their arrival followed a nearly two-month voyage across three Great Lakes in the Naper brothers' schooner, the Telegraph. Also on the journey were several families who remained in the settlement that would become Chicago, including that of Dexter Graves who is memorialized in Graceland Cemetery by the well-known Lorado Taft statue "Eternal Silence" (also known as "the Dexter Graves Monument").

By 1832, over one hundred settlers had arrived at Naper's Settlement. Following the news of the Indian Creek massacre during the Black Hawk War, these settlers were temporarily displaced to Fort Dearborn for protection from an anticipated attack by the Sauk tribe. Fort Payne was built at Naper's Settlement, the settlers returned and the attack never materialized. The Pre-Emption House was constructed in 1834, as the Settlement became a stage-coach stop on the road from Chicago to Galena. Reconstructions of Fort Payne and the Pre-Emption House stand as part of Naper Settlement outdoor museum village, which was established by the Naperville Heritage Society and the Naperville Park District in 1969 to preserve some of the community's oldest buildings.