The Darien post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Sawens (1880), Fargo (1885) and Lehigh (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,406 in 18402020 census: 3,010194 years
How historic is Darien?
B+
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Darien post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Darien’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Darien is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #515 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Darien’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Darien’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Darien’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
During the early historic period, the area was occupied by the Seneca people and was referred to by them as O’sóötgeh or "turkey place".
The area was settled by Europeans circa 1803 and was known at first as South Pembroke. The town of Darien was founded in 1832 from the south part of the town of Pembroke. The early town was agricultural, supplying food products to nearby urban areas, such as Buffalo.
Even before the deposition of James II Paterson had given thought to the advantages of Darien as a great trading centre. In his own words it was "the key of the "Indies and door of the world." He had pointed out to James that to take possession of Darien and establish a settlement there would accomplish the treble purpose of furnishing a base for operations against Spain, a storehouse and market for the West Indian trade, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
His aim was to secure indemnification. To make this possible it was desirable to obtain official recognition of the original settlement at Darien, and he asked the Parliament of Scotland to declare the settlement a legal and rightful one. The King, however, although keenly desirous to soothe his Scottish subjects, and with his plans of a Union undoubtedly in mind, considered it necessary to express through his Commissioner, the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Darien, 1832 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Darien post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Darien rank for history?
Darien is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #515 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Darien?
43% of Darien’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1948.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
