Aurora is a city in

Dearborn County Dearborn County is one of 92 counties of the U.S. state of Indiana. Located on the Ohio border near the southeast corner of the state, Dearborn County was formed in 1803 from a portion of Hamilton County, Ohio. In 2020, the population was 50,6 ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, United States. The population was 3,479 at the 2020 census.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Aurora has a total area of , of which (or 89.41%) is land and (or 10.59%) is water.

History

Aurora was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1819. It was named for

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

, the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology. Aurora was incorporated as a town in 1822 and became a city in 1848, though some sources say 1845. Aurora is known for its historic downtown area and the ornate Hillforest mansion built for Thomas Gaff who earned his fortune shipping goods on the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

by steamboat. The mansion was designed by architect Isaiah Rogers and was completed in 1855 in the Italian Renaissance style. The design is symmetrical. Details include deep overhangs, arched windows and balconies and porches. Hillforest was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992. Aurora was once a

sundown town Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, were all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States. They were towns that practiced a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combinati ...

, a place unwelcoming to non-whites after dark. Local newspaper ''The Aurora Journal'' reported on a reader's concern about a sign "posted somewhere along the river" that read, "Nigger, Don't Let the Sun Set on You in Aurora". According to the article, published on September 9, 1937, "The sign has been down for some time, but the idea still holds good." In addition to Hillforest, the Aurora City Hall, Aurora Methodist Episcopal Church, Aurora Public Library, Downtown Aurora Historic District, First Evangelical United Church of Christ, First Presbyterian Church, George Street Bridge, Lewis Hurlbert, Sr. House, Leive, Parks and Stapp Opera House, Levi Stevens House, and George Sutton Medical Office are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 3,750 people, 1,472 households, and 936 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,647 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population. There were 1,472 households, of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.4% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.11. The median age in the city was 36.2 years. 26.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.5% were from 25 to 44; 25.3% were from 45 to 64; and 12.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.3% male and 50.7% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 3,965 people, 1,592 households, and 1,022 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,716 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.59%

, 0.10%

, 0.33% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.25% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.61% of the population. There were 1,592 households, out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were

living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.08. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,500, and the median income for a family was $39,331. Males had a median income of $32,058 versus $24,671 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $16,587. About 9.4% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 11.3% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The government consists of a mayor and a city council. The mayor is elected in citywide vote. The city council consists of five members. Four are elected from individual districts. One is elected at-large.

Current elected officials

* Mayor: Mark A. Drury * Clerk Treasurer: Benny Turner * Council District 1: Sherry Love * Council District 2: Joey Turner * Council District 3: Terry Hahn * Council District 4: Kyle Runge * Council At Large: Patrick Schwing

Timeline of 19th-century mayors

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1848 till:31/12/1880 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:may value:red legend:Mayor ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1848 PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:John D Haynes from:start till:31/12/1850 color:may bar:Solomon P Tumy from:01/01/1851 till:31/12/1855 color:may bar:Washington Stark from:01/01/1856 till:31/12/1856 color:may bar:Solomon P Tumy from:01/01/1857 till:31/12/1858 color:may bar:John Gaff from:01/01/1859 till:31/12/1860 color:may bar:Frederick Slater from:01/01/1861 till:31/12/1862 color:may bar:Dr George Sutton from:01/01/1863 till:31/12/1866 color:may bar:R Criswell from:01/01/1867 till:31/12/1868 color:may bar:Frederick Huckery from:01/01/1869 till:31/12/1870 color:may bar:J A Emrie from:01/01/1871 till:31/12/1872 color:may bar:Dr. Frederick Rectanus from:01/01/1873 till:31/12/1876 color:may bar:Edward Green from:01/01/1877 till:31/12/1880 color:may

Education

The town has a free lending library, the Aurora Public Library District.

Newspapers

* ''The Peoples' Advocate'' (1868–1870) * ''The Aurora Journal'' (1859–1952)

Notable people

* Kirtley Baker (1869–1927) – Major League Baseball player. * Stephen Bechtel Sr. (1900–1989) – former president of

Bechtel Corporation Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California in 1898, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia in the Washington metropolitan area. , the ''Enginee ...

* Elmer Davis (1890–1958) – Director of the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

in World War II;

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

recipient. * Elias Selah Holliday (1842–1936) – served 4 terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. * Jesse Lynch Holman (1774–1842) – helped plat the town of Aurora in 1819. Appointed by President Andrew Jackson to the U.S. District Court for the District of Indiana. * William S. Holman (1822–1897) – born in Aurora at Veraestau, the home built by his father, Jesse Lynch Holman. He was elected to 10 terms in the

. *

Lonnie Mack Lonnie McIntosh (July 18, 1941 – April 21, 2016), known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was influential in the development of blues rock music and rock guitar soloing. Mack emerged in 1963 with his break ...

(1941–2016) – influential rock guitar soloing pioneer, was born and raised in the area, and is buried in Aurora. * Anna Meyer (Born 1928) – at age 15, one of the youngest players to sign a contract with the

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

. * Harry Emerson Rowbottom (1884–1934) – served 3 terms in the

from Indiana's 1st congressional district. * John Q. Tufts (1840–1902) – born in Aurora in 1840, his family moved to Iowa in 1852. He was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 2nd congressional district in the

References

External links

City of Aurora, Indiana website
{{authority control Cities in Indiana Cities in Dearborn County, Indiana Indiana populated places on the Ohio River 1819 establishments in Indiana Populated places established in 1819 Sundown towns in Indiana