🎉 Celebrating 200 years of history, the Darien Heritage Trail connects community and storytelling! 🎉
🌊 Discover Darien’s Storied Past with the Heritage Trail! 🕰️
Did you know that Darien’s coastline was once a battlefield during the Revolutionary War’s “Whaleboat Wars”, where Patriot mariners defended the town against Tory marauders? Or that Stephen Mather, of the historic Mather Homestead, is celebrated as the founder of the National Park Service? Or that his daughter, Bertha Mather, made waves as one of Connecticut’s first female architects! And that the First Congregational Church played a pivotal role during the Revolutionary War, with over 40 parishioners captured by Loyalists—and later stood as a beacon in the fight against slavery?
Thanks to the vision of the Museum of Darien’s efforts, you don’t need to be a history geek to feel the pull of Darien’s rich heritage.
The project was created by the Darien Bicentennial Committee and guided by the expertise of the Museum of Darien’s Historian Ken Reiss and the Monuments and Ceremonies Commission. The Heritage Trail bridges the past, present, and future of Darien.
Discover the stories that shaped Darien, celebrating our rich heritage as we move forward together, in real life or digitally. 🌟
đź“Ť Explore Eight Remarkable Sites
The trail features eight historical markers, with six already unveiled:
- The Museum of Darien
- The First Congregational Church
- The Mather Homestead
- Tilley Pond
- Noroton River Cemetery
- The Battle of the Post Road & Nearwater Farm
The final two—History of Downtown and History of Post Road—will debut with the completion of the Corbin District. Stretching from The Mather Homestead near the New Canaan border, through downtown Darien, to the Noroton River Cemetery, the trail is a journey through time.
📲 Go Beyond the Markers
On the digital Heritage Trail, dive deeper with oral histories and stories that bring these sites to life, connecting the past to the present while inspiring the future.
