In 1861, David Millspaw became the first permanent settler in the area of what was to become Aurora. Hamilton County was formed in 1870. Aurora was laid out as a town in 1871 by David Stone who named it after his former hometown of Aurora, Illinois. The county seat was transferred from Orville City to Aurora in 1876.
Geography
Aurora is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is land and is water. The average precipitation per year in Hamilton County during the years 1971 to 2000 was between.
At the 2010 census, there were 4,479 people, 1,781 households and 1,199 families in the city. The population density was. There were 1,939 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 97.7% White, 0.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population. There were 1,781 households of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couplesliving together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.7% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age in the city was 40.4 years. 26.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.3% were from 25 to 44; 25.7% were from 45 to 64; and 18.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.
At the 2000 census, there were 4,225 people, 1,662 households and 1,163 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,243.0 per square mile. There were 1,798 housing units at an average density of 954.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 97.92% White, 0.19% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.57% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.56% of the population. There were 1,662 households of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.3% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.98. 27.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males. The median household income was $37,690 and the median family income was $43,884. Males had a median income of $29,162 compared with $20,484 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,309. About 6.1% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.4% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
