The village is named for Michel or Pierre Bureau. Their original surname was probably Belleau, but local aboriginals may have had difficulty pronouncing the "l" sound. One or both of the brothers ran a trading post near where Big Bureau Creek empties into the Illinois River from 1776 until 1780 or 1790. A man named Buero, of mixed French and Native American descent, and possibly a descendant of one of the earlier Bureau brothers, was operating in this area as a fur trader in 1821. In the 1870s Bureau Junction had a sizeable railroad operation as the halfway point on the railroad between Chicago and Rock Island.
Geography
Bureau Junction is located at . According to the 2010 census, Bureau Junction has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 368 people, 135 households, and 93 families residing in the village. The population density was 256.1 people per square mile. There were 159 housing units at an average density of 110.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 98.37% White, 0.27% Native American, 0.82% from other races, and 0.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.60% of the population. There were 135 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couplesliving together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were non-families. 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.28. In the village, the population was spread out with 28.3% under the age of 18, 12.0% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males. The median income for a household in the village was $41,429, and the median income for a family was $46,429. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $21,458 for females. The per capita income for the village was $15,490. About 2.1% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.
