Bensenville, Illinois

Bensenville
Village
Village of Bensenville
Downtown Bensenville
Flag logo
Motto:  Gateway to Opportunity
Location of Bensenville in DuPage County and Cook County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Coordinates: 41°57′29″N87°56′45″W / 41.95806°N 87.94583°W / 41.95806; -87.94583
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	DuPage, Cook
Township	Addison, Leyden
Government
• Type	council–manager
• Village President	Frank DeSimone
Area [1]
• Total	5.58 sq mi (14.46 km2)
• Land	5.53 sq mi (14.33 km2)
• Water	0.05 sq mi (0.13 km2)
Elevation	679 ft (207 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	18,813
• Density	3,401.37/sq mi (1,313.23/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	60106 [2]
Area code	630
FIPS code	17-05248
Website	www.bensenville.il.us

Bensenville is a village located near O'Hare International Airport in DuPage County, Illinois, with a portion of the town in Cook County. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 18,813.

First known as Tioga, it was formally established as Bensenville in 1873 along the Milwaukee Road (now Canadian Pacific) right-of-way. The community is named after Bensen, Germany, a village in the municipality of Sudwalde. ^{[3] [4]} A post office was established in 1873, but because there was an existing "Benson", the suffix "ville" was added. ^[3]

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.

History

The Barker-Karpis Gang used a house on May Street to hide kidnap victims William Hamm, Jr in 1933 and Edward Bremer in 1934, who they had kidnapped from Saint Paul, Minnesota. ^[5] In 2007, homes and businesses were acquired by the City of Chicago for its O'Hare Modernization Program.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Bensenville has a total area of 5.58 square miles (14.45 km²), of which 5.53 square miles (14.32 km²) (or 99.09%) is land and 0.05 square miles (0.13 km²) (or 0.91%) is water. ^[6]

Schools

Bensenville School District 100:

• Fenton High School which serves both Bensenville and Wood Dale

Bensenville School District 2:

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

Private:

• Zion-Concord Lutheran School, Private 3-year-old Preschool through 8th grade.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
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%
2020	18,813		2.5%
U.S. Decennial Census [7]

As of the 2020 census ^[8] there were 18,813 people, 6,661 households, and 4,274 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,370.90 inhabitants per square mile (1,301.51/km²). There were 6,864 housing units at an average density of 1,229.89 per square mile (474.86/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 46.19% White, 4.17% African American, 4.94% Asian, 2.23% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 25.73% from other races, and 16.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 51.55% of the population.

There were 6,661 households, out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.30% were married couples living together, 12.73% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.84% were non-families. 29.43% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.48% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.40 and the average family size was 2.70.

The village's age distribution consisted of 23.2% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.3 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $64,401, and the median income for a family was $77,151. Males had a median income of $39,310 versus $32,728 for females. The per capita income for the village was $27,530. About 7.4% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

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 Amtrak trains.

Pace provides bus service on Routes 223, 319 and 332 connecting Bensenville to Elmhurst, Rosemont, and other destinations. ^[9]

Economy

Top employers

According to Bensenville's 2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, ^[10] the top employers in the village are:

#	Employer	# of Employees
1	US Foods	400
2	Fortune Fish & Gourmet	350
3	Chicago White Metal Casting	325
4	Expeditors International	300
5	Victor Envelope Manufacturing Co.	220
6	Ewing-Doherty Mechanical Inc.	200
6	UPS Freight Services	200
6	Allmetal, Inc	200
6	The Protectoseal Co.	200
10	The Envelope Express, Inc.	175

In popular culture

Bensenville is the site of Victory Auto Wreckers, a 7-acre (2.8 ha) auto recycling facility on Green Street which has repeatedly aired the "door-falling-off-the-car" commercial, ^[11] starring Bob Zajdel, on Chicago television stations since 1981.

Bensenville is mentioned by name in the movie Flatliners , and a scene was filmed at the old green house that was next to Blackhawk Junior High School in 1990. ^[12]

In the television series Boss , a multi-episode 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.

Sister cities

• Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico ^[13]

Notable people

• Daren Dochterman is an art designer and illustrator for over 35 feature films including The Abyss , and Star Trek: The Motion Picture . ^{[14] [15]}
• Richard Oruche, basketball player for the Nigerian National Basketball Team. He competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. He played basketball for the Fenton Bison, Bensenville's high school. ^{[16] [17]}
• William A. Redmond was a longtime Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives who served as Speaker from 1975 to 1981. ^[18]
• 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. ^{[19] [20]}
• Marcin Kleczynski, Polish-born Malwarebytes CEO who grew up in Bensenville. ^[21]

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
2. "Bensenville IL ZIP Code". zipdatamaps.com. 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
3. Callary, Edward (2009). Place Names of Illinois. University of Illinois. ISBN   9780252090707.
4. "Several Towns Named After Founders and Heroes". The Daily Herald. December 28, 1999. p. 220. Retrieved August 17, 2014– via Newspapers.com.
5. Hoover, John (November 19, 1936). "Federal Bureau of Investigation United States Department of Justice Washington D.C." (PDF). Retrieved April 15, 2024.
6. "Gazetteer Files". Census.gov. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
7. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
8. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
9. "RTA System Map" (PDF). Retrieved January 30, 2024.
10. Village of Bensenville ACFR
11. "Commercial success – Chicago Tribune". Chicago Tribune . January 27, 2006.
12. "Flatliners".
13. "Village of Bensenville Board Minutes, October 13, 2015" . Retrieved March 12, 2019.
14. "Daren Dochterman's bio for Fenton's Wall of Fame; retrieved 23 May 2016". Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
15. Daren Dochterman filmography @imdb.com; retrieved 13 August 2008
16. "Fenton alum to play for Nigeria in Olympics". Daily Herald . July 20, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
17. Martinez, Marcia (November 12, 2009). "If not for Richard, Prairie Stars would be poorer". The State Journal-Register . Retrieved March 3, 2020.
18. "William A. Redmond Memoir" (PDF). Illinois Legislative Research Unit. 1982. p. v. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
19. Dr. Audrey Wagner's bio for Fenton HS's Wall of Fame; retrieved 13 August 2008 Archived 28 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
20. AAGPL records page @aagpl.org; retrieved 13 August 2008 Archived September 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
21. Johnson, Steve (July 18, 2014). "Q&A: Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of Malwarebytes, on cybersecurity and startups". Mercury News. Retrieved October 14, 2016.

External links

• Official website