Darien, Connecticut

Darien is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, USA.

As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 19,607, but a July 1, 2002 Census estimate put the town's population at 19,887. Like its neighbor to the north, New Canaan, Darien is one of the most affluent small communities in the United States.

Two Metro North railroad stations serve Darien: Noroton Heights and Darien.

The part of Interstate 95 that runs through Darien is considered the most dangerous stretch of that highway in Connecticut.

Both the 1975 and the 2004 versions of the film The Stepford Wives were filmed in part in Darien.

The public library in Darien, the Darien Library, has consistently ranked in the top ten of its category in the HAPLR Index of libraries.

Its ambulance service, Darien EMS (also known as Post 53) is the only ambulance service in the nation staffed and run entirely by high school student volunteers. The service provides emergency care at no cost to the patient, funded entirely by private donations from town residents. Teenagers are allowed to perform patient care due to the fact that Connecticut is one the few states in the nation which allows Emergency medical technicians to be certified at age 16.

The McDonald's restaurant located at the rest stop on Interstate 95 is the busiest McDonald's in the country.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 38.4 km² (14.8 mi²). 33.3 km² (12.9 mi²) of it is land and 5.2 km² (2.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 13.41% water. The town is served by Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway. It also has two Metro North railroad stations for commuter trains into New York City, with a commute of approximately 55 minutes. The central part of town is on Route 1.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,607 people, 6,592 households, and 5,385 families residing in the town. The population density was 588.7/km² (1,525.2/mi²). There were 6,792 housing units at an average density of 203.9 persons/km² (528.3 persons/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.97% White, 0.45% African American, 0.04% Native American, 2.42% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. 2.19% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,592 households out of which 46.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.5% were married couples living together, 5.6% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 18.3% were non-families. 15.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.31.

In the town the population was spread out with 32.5% under the age of 18, 3.0% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $146,755, and the median income for a family was $173,777. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $59,313 for females. The per capita income for the town was $77,519. 2.0% of the population and 0.6% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 1.6% are under the age of 18 and 2.6% are 65 or older.

With a median home price of approximately $1 million, Darien is one of the most expensive places to live in North America, and was rated one of the best places to live in America by CNN in 2005.

History

Originally part of Stamford, this area became Middlesex Parish in 1737. It was incorporated as the Town of Darien in 1820.

Settlement had begun about 1700 when the first roads were cut "in the woods." In 1703 a school district was set up in Noroton. Five years later Scofield's Mill (afterward called Gorham's Mill) was built on Goodwive's River. By 1744 a meetinghouse was built and the Reverend Moses Mather became the first minister. During the American Revolution, Middlesex Parish was frequently raided by local Tories who had fled to Lloyd's Neck on Long Island. They disrupted services at the meetinghouse on July 22, 1781, captured Dr. Mather and 47 other men, and transported them across the Sound. Dr. Mather with 26 of his parishioners suffered 5 months in foul British prisons in New York City before those who survived their confinement were exchanged and returned to their homes.

Until the advent of the railroad in 1848, Darien remained a small, rural community of about 1000 farmers, shoemakers, fishermen, and merchants engaged in coastal trading. A gradual increase in population then occurred with the arrival of emigrants from Ireland and later from Italy.

In 1864 during the Civil War, the first home for disabled veterans and soldier's orphans in the United States was built at Noroton Heights. It was named after its founder, Benjamin Fitch of Darien.

Following the war, Darien became a popular resort for prosperous New Yorkers who built summer homes in Tokeneke, Long Neck Point, and Noroton. A few daily commuters to New York City then were forerunners of the many who have settled here and changed Darien into a residential suburb of metropolitan New York.

Exclusivity and Racism

Darien used to be a sundown town - a town which forbade African Americans and Jews to remain overnight via unwritten rules. In 1948 a billboard reading "Gentiles Only" greeted visitors on Hollow Tree Road. Laura Z. Hobson's bestselling 1947 novel Gentleman's Agreement was set in Darien to highlight American anti-semitism via an unwritten covenant that prohibited real estate sales to Jews in communities nationwide. Gregory Peck starred in the film version, directed by Elia Kazan, which won the Academy Award for best picture. Darien would earn the offensive nickname "Aryan Darien."

In the 1940s, Darien also kept Roman Catholics out. Its country clubs and other private clubs were arranged hierarchically to delineate further graduations of exclusion based on wealth, occupation, religion, ethnic group, and family ancestry.

As the twentieth century wore on, Darien became less homogeneous. Its private clubs and institutions opened to a wide array of religions and ethnicities, where socio-economic class and wealth were the defining characteristics of membership. Beginning the early 1980s, Darien High School and neighboring New Canaan High School took part in the A Better Chance (ABC), a program that sends minority teenagers to prep schools and affluent suburban high schools to prepare them to enter superior colleges. Darien housed and educated a select group of New York City girls, mostly from Harlem; New Canaan housed and educated their male counterparts.

Still, it remains a fact that Darien is made up of primarily wealthy citizens and that it is a place of luxury.

Local media

Darien is served by two local weeklies: Darien News-Review and the Darien Times. Other newspapers from towns close to Darien, such as The Advocate, are read and sold in Darien.

Darien has three fire departments, all of which are volunteer; Darien, Noroton, and Noroton Heights.