Bensenville, Illinois

Bensenville
Village
Official name: Village of Bensenville
Motto: Gateway to Opportunity
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	DuPage, Cook
Township	Addison Township
Coordinates	41°57′29″N 87°56′45″W / 41.95806°N 87.94583°WCoordinates: 41°57′29″N 87°56′45″W / 41.95806°N 87.94583°W
Area	5.62 sq mi (15 km^2)
- land	5.57 sq mi (14 km^2)
- water	0.05 sq mi (0 km^2)
Population	18,352 (2010)
Density	3,296.6 / sq mi (1,273 / km^2)
Founded	1884
Government	President-Trustee
Village President	Frank Soto
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	60106
Area code	630
Location in DuPage County and the state of Illinois.
Wikimedia Commons: Bensenville, Illinois
Website: http://www.bensenville.il.us/

Bensenville is a village located in DuPage County, Illinois, with a portion of the town near O'Hare International Airport in Cook County, officially belonging to the City of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 18,352.

First known as Tioga, it was formally established as Bensenville in 1873 along the Milwaukee Road railway. The community is named after Benzen, Germany.^[1][2] A post office was established in 1873, but because there was an existing "Benson", the suffix "ville" was added.^[1]

The Edge Ice Arena is located in Bensenville, former home of the Chicago Steel junior ice hockey team.

The Churchville School in Bensenville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Bensenville has a total area of 5.618 square miles (14.55 km²), of which 5.57 square miles (14.43 km²) (or 99.15%) is land and 0.048 square miles (0.12 km²) (or 0.85%) is water.^[3]

Schools

Bensenville School District 100:

• Fenton High School which serves both Bensenville and Wood Dale

Bensenville School District 2:

• Blackhawk Middle School
• Tioga Elementary School
• W.A. Johnson Elementary School
• Mohawk Elementary School

Private:

• Holy Family, Private Roman Catholic
• Zion Concord Lutheran School, Private K-8

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	136		—
1890	295		116.9%
1900	374		26.8%
1910	443		18.4%
1920	650		46.7%
1930	1,680		158.5%
1940	1,869		11.3%
1950	3,754		100.9%
1960	9,141		143.5%
1970	12,956		41.7%
1980	16,106		24.3%
1990	17,767		10.3%
2000	20,703		16.5%
2010	18,352		−11.4%
Est. 2014	18,487	[4]	0.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[5]

As of the census ^[6] of 2010, there were 18,352 people residing in the village. The population density was 3,296.6 people per square mile (5,305.3/km²). There were 6,743 housing units. The racial makeup of the village was 67.3% White, 3.5% African American, 1.0% Native American, 4.8% Asian, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 47.8% of the population.

There were 6,312 households out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 11% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.50.

In the village the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 20 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were over 65 years of age. The median age was 33.4 years.

The median income for a household in the village was $52,500 and the median income for a family was $55,500. About 15.4% of families and 15.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.1% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those over age 65.

Transportation

The "Midwest Hiawatha" traveling through Bensenville, 1943

Bensenville has a station on Metra's Milwaukee District/West Line, which provides daily rail service between Elgin and Chicago (at Union Station). From there, passengers can connect to an Amtrak train.

Economy

Top employers

According to Bensenville's 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[7] the top employers in the village are:

#	Employer	# of Employees
1	LifeLink	400
2	US Foods	400
3	Central States Trucking	300
4	Victor Envelope Company	220
5	Ewing-Doherty Mechanical	200
6	Expeditors International	200
7	Telesource	200
8	Allmetal	200
9	UPS Supply Chain Solutions	200
10	Envelopes Express	175

In popular culture

Bensenville is the site of Victory Auto Wreckers, a 7-acre (2.8 ha) junkyard on Green Street which has repeatedly aired the same commercial, starring Bob Zajdel, on Chicago television stations since 1981.

Part of the movie Flatliners was filmed at the old green house that was next to Black Hawk Junior High School in 1990.

The Spilotro brothers were executed in a basement in Bensenville and buried in a cornfield in Indiana as depicted in the movie Casino which depicts the corruption at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas. Joe Pesci portrayed one of the Spilotro brothers.

In the television series Boss, a multiepisode story arc involves the main character, Mayor of Chicago Tom Kane (Kelsey Grammer), being damaged by a scandal in which he authorized the dumping of carcinogenic chemicals that soak into the groundwater of Bensenville.

The Christian metalcore band Gwen Stacy recorded the video for their single "The First Words" in an abandoned neighborhood in Bensenville.

Sister cities

• Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico

Notable people

• Daren Dochterman is an art designer and illustrator for over 35 feature films including The Abyss, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.^[8][9]
• William A. Redmond was a longtime Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives who served as Speaker from 1975-1981.^[10]
• Genevieve "Audrey" Wagner was a professional baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, winning the league's batting title in 1948. She later earned an M.D. and pilots license.^[11][12]

References

1. Callary, Edward (2009). Place Names of Illinois. University of Illinois.
2. "Several Towns Named After Founders and Heroes". The Daily Herald. December 28, 1999. p. 220. Retrieved August 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "G001 - Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
4. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". Retrieved June 4, 2015.
5. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
6. "US Census Bureau QuickFacts". 2010 Census. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
7. Village of Bensenville CAFR
8. Daren Dochterman's bio for Fenton's Wall of Fame; retrieved 13 August 2008
9. Daren Dochterman filmography @imdb.com; retrieved 13 August 2008
10. "William A. Redmond Memoir" (PDF). Illinois Legislative Research Unit. 1982. p. v. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
11. Dr. Audrey Wagner's bio for Fenton HS's Wall of Fame; retrieved 13 August 2008
12. AAGPL records page @aagpl.org; retrieved 13 August 2008

External links

Official website