A city of Lawrence county, Missouri, U.S.A., 275 m. S.W. of St Louis, on the St Louis & San Francisco, and the St Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern railways. Pop.(1890) 348 2; (1900) 6191. It is in the neighbourhood of a lead and zinc mining region, where surface lead was discovered in 1873 and systematic mining began in 1887; among the cities of the state it is second to Joplin in mineral importance, and has large ironworks and flour-mills; mining machinery also is manufactured. Farming and fruit-growing are carried on in the surrounding country, and Aurora is the place from which the products are shipped. Aurora was platted in 1870 and was chartered as a city in 1886.