Elwood was founded in 1854 and incorporated as a village in 1869. The completion of the Joliet–Bloomingtonrailroad, now part of the Union Pacific system, played a major role in the founding of Elwood. By 1900, Elwood was a small farming community with a population of about 400.
In the late 1930s, the federal government acquired nearby land for military training and weapons production, on which site the Joliet Arsenal was built and commenced operation in 1940. Arsenal construction played an important role in the development of Elwood and brought about 175 people into the area. In 1942, a massive explosion at the arsenal killed 42 workers and caused widespread damage.
In 1954, the village celebrated its centennial, and 20,000 people gathered to watch the parade. By 1970, Elwood had a population of about 750. On May 8, 1988, a tornado touched down about three miles (5 km) north of the village, uprooting large trees and heavily damaging some homes and pole buildings.
In 1990, the village began to experience more rapid growth. By 1996, Elwood’s population rose to nearly 1,423, with development accelerated due to the construction of the CenterPoint Intermodal Center facility. The village’s population peaked at 2,279, according to the 2010 US census, decreasing to 2,229, according to the 2020 US census. The Northern Illinois Planning Commission had projected that Elwood would have a population of nearly 20,000 by 2030, which given the 2.2. percent population contraction noted in the 2020 census, is not likely to be realized.
Three major fires have taken place in Elwood, the first on August 26, 1995, in which the fire station was destroyed.[2] The second, which occurred on May 5, 2008, completely destroyed Bill’s Inn.[3] A residential fire in the Wyndstone Village subdivision on April 17, 2009, caused extensive damage to two townhomes.
Of the 880 households enumerated in the 2010 census, 35.2 percent had children under the age of 18 living within, 58.3 percent were husband-wife family living together, 9.2 percent had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.4 percent were non-families. 24.1 percent of all households were made up of individuals, and 28.4 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the village, the age distribution of the population showed 25.5 percent under the age of 18 and 15.4 percent who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.8 years. 50.8 percent of the populations was female while 49.8 percent was male.
The median income for a household in the village was $78,515 USD, and the median income for a family was $83,698. Males had a median income of $68,500 versus $38,299 for females. The per capita income for the village was $30,223. About 6.5 percent of families and 8.5 percent of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2 percent of those under age 18 and 8.2 percent of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Pace provides bus service on Route 511 connecting Elwood to downtown Joliet and other destinations.[9]
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