Town History

In the spring of 1837, John Bruce, Jr., of New York State, purchased all of Section 27 that is the present site of the Village of Darien. He built a log house that was also used as a hotel, where the Methodist Parsonage now stands.

A settlement sprang up called “Bruceville” and kept the name until 1840, when it was renamed Darien, after Darien, New York, the previous home of several families of influence in the community.

He immediately set aside a strip of land consisting of three acres in perpetuity to be known as The Commons. This was a place for soldiers to drill and later became known as Bruce Park. The trail next to The Commons was an Indian trail that later became a territorial road. This was used as a military road connecting Fort Dearborn (Chicago), and Fort Madison and Portage.

(To learn more about the history of the Town of Darien there is a notebook with more articles and pictures located at the Town Hall).