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Welcome to Elwood ...

The village of Elwood is located in Will County<1>.

The pronunciation of Elwood: EL-wood<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Elwood, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1855.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Elwood has a population of 2,225 people<3> (see below for details).

Elwood is 590 feet [180 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Elwood lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Elwood: 815 & 779<5>

The ZIP code for Elwood: 60421<6>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Elwood had an population of 2,225 people. This is a decrease of 2.37% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 37.35% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Elwood had a population of 2,279 people. This makes Elwood the county's 20th most populous community.

The population of Elwood represents 0.02% of the population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 466th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 2,279 people, the population of Elwood increased 40.68% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 1,620 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Elwood.

Communities Also Named Elwood ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 19 communities that are also named Elwood - they are located in Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas (3), Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Elwood.

Communities near Elwood ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Elwood.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Elwood. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Elwood.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Elwood. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Elwood.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Elwood. See our Newspapers Page for Elwood.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Elwood ...

Looking for more information about Elwood? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Elwood, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Elwood.

Adding Elwood to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Elwood in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Elwood was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>

From that list, the Elwood post office opened in 1855.

We also found Elwood on a map (with an unknown title) dated 1870.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Elwood.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Will, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Elwood. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Elwood.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Elwood - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Elwood area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Elwood area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a village (such as Elwood). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Elwood or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<9>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/