Darien, Illinois
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| Incorporated | City in 1969. | |||||||||||||||
| County; State | DuPage; Illinois | |||||||||||||||
| Township | Downers Grove | |||||||||||||||
| Government | Council-manager | |||||||||||||||
| Mayor | Kathleen Weaver | |||||||||||||||
| Population (2000) | 22,860 (up 24.69% from 1990) | |||||||||||||||
| Pop. density | 1,461.3/km² (3,782.7/mi²) | |||||||||||||||
| Zip code(s) | 60561 | |||||||||||||||
| Area code | 630 | |||||||||||||||
| Land area | 15.9 km² (6.1 mi²) | |||||||||||||||
| Income | Per capita: $39,795 Household: $89,836 |
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| Home value | Mean: $231,382 Median: $214,500 (2000) |
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| Website | www.darien.il.us | |||||||||||||||
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Darien is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, USA. The population was 22,860 at the 2000 census.
A suburb of Chicago, Darien was named after a town in Connecticut.
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[edit] Popular culture
The town motto is "A nice place to live" which coincidentally happened to be the same town motto as Hill Valley from the Back to the Future movies.
The same nativity set used in the movie Home Alone can be seen at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church.
[edit] Geography
Darien is located at (41.745623, -87.981087)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.9 km² (6.1 mi²). 15.6 km² (6.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (1.14%) is water.
[edit] History
The first people to settle here came form the New England states. They traveled here via the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. Among the first to arrive was the Thomas Andrus family. They settled along an old stagecoach line which was roughly where I-55 was in 1835. Mr, Andrus opened up the Andrus Inn which served the 15 stage coaches that traveled the stagecoach line. Andrus Inn was located right about the entrance to Carriage Way West Subdivision.
The Inn included a tavern and a post office and Mr. Andrus named the area Cass. He was Justice of the Peace and served as the Town Clerk, Assessor and County Commissioner. His son, Edger, would ride his horse to the Illinois and Michigan Canal and swim across to get to the mail.
Thomas Andrus and Father Beggs built the First Cass Church, which was a log cabin design. The church's cemetery, located west of where the church stood (west of Baily Road and north of Frontage Road), can still be seen today. The church was also used as a school house.
Elisha and Eliza Smart settled here in 1838 with their 10 children. Elisha got gold fever and left for California, returning 7 years later as a very rich man. He bought more land and the Smart family donated the land on which a new Cass Church was built in 1870.
John and Hannah Oldfield came to cass in 1850. Mr. Oldfield raised cattle and increased his land holdings to 2000 acres.
Franklin Blanchard opened his cheese factory in 1881 — the location of the cheese factory being where McDonalds is today.
Martin Madden was an Irish immigrant who arrived at the cass area during the late 1800's. He became a member of the Chicago City Council and later was elected to the House of Representatives and served in the United States Congress. In 1903, Mr. Madden built a home to look like the White House in Washington D.C. he called it Castle Eden. Today Castle Eden is part of the Aylesford Retreat Center of the Carmelite Fathers.
A group of German Lutherans from Europe came to the area near 67th and Clarendon Hills Road in 1859. They built the first St. John Lutheran Church and laid out the cemetery behind the church. Today the cemetery is still located at 67th and Clarendon Hills Road. In 1899, a new church was built on the northeast corner of Cass and 75th Street. The Church was located where Taco Bell and Royal Shield Restaurant now stand. In 1969, the second church was torn down and the present St. John's Lutheran Church was built west of Cass and north of 75th Street.
A school was built on the northwest corner of Cass and 75th street in 1860. It was the first Lace School. It is now a museum which is open on the first Sunday of each month from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.
By 1890, the Village of Lace was established. The important location at that time was the triangle bordered by Cass Avenue, Plainfield Road and 75th Street. It was called "The Point". The Point included the Town Hall, General Store, Blacksmith Shop and the office of Dr. Roe. A Post Office had been established at The Point in 1884.
The City of Darien was originally part of these two communities — Lace and Cass. The idea to incorporate came from a desire of some of the residents of four subdivisions to unit into one city. Those subdivisions were Marion Hills, Brookhaven, Clairfield and Hinsbrook.
The City of Darien was incorporated in 1969. When the incorporation committee reached an impasse on an acceptable name for the new city, Acting mayor Sam Kelly suggested the name "Darien". (Kelly had visited Darien, Connecticut, and found it to be a very pleasant and attractive community.) Today, Darien is known as "A Nice Place to Live".
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 22,860 people, 8,735 households, and 6,455 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,461.3/km² (3,782.7/mi²). There were 8,929 housing units at an average density of 570.8/km² (1,477.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.10% White, 1.97% African American, 0.11% Native American, 11.53% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.97% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.64% of the population.
There were 8,735 households out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $89,836, and the median income for a family was $103,412. Males had a median income of $70,580 versus $46,352 for females. The per capita income for the city was $39,795. About 1.6% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.1% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Other Dariens in the United States
- Darien, Connecticut
- Darien, Georgia
- Darien, New York
- Village of Darien, Wisconsin
- Town of Darien, Wisconsin
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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| Central City | Chicago |  |
| Largest cities (over 30,000 in 2000) | Aurora • Berwyn • Calumet City • Chicago Heights • Crystal Lake • DeKalb • Des Plaines • East Chicago • Elgin • Elmhurst • Evanston • Gary • Hammond • Harvey • Highland Park • Joliet • Kenosha • Naperville • North Chicago • Park Ridge • Portage • Waukegan • Wheaton |
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| Largest towns and villages (over 30,000 in 2000) | Addison • Arlington Heights • Bartlett • Bolingbrook • Buffalo Grove • Carol Stream • Carpentersville • Cicero • Downers Grove • Elk Grove Village • Glendale Heights • Glenview • Hanover Park • Hoffman Estates • Lombard • Merrillville • Mount Prospect • Mundelein • Niles • Northbrook • Oak Lawn • Oak Park • Orland Park • Palatine • Schaumburg • Skokie • Streamwood • Tinley Park • Wheeling • Woodridge | |
| Counties | Cook • DeKalb • DuPage • Grundy • Jasper • Kane • Kankakee • Kendall • Kenosha • Lake (Illinois) • Lake (Indiana) • LaPorte • McHenry • Newton • Porter • Will | |
