Tilley Pond
History & Background
There was little to show of Darien’s agricultural tradition by the time the most remarkable farm in its history was created right in the middle of the town during the early 1900s.
Tilley’s Bird Farm wasn’t your traditional cows-and-cabbages kind of farm, however. It became a world-famous exotic bird farm that catered to a wealthy clientele and zoos and sold “… everything in the bird line from canary to ostrich,” according to one New York newspaper. Its genial proprietor, George Dudley Tilley, was a delicate boy who had a passion for birds. His family moved to Darien, and in 1895, when George was just 14, he made his first sale: a pair of silver pheasants.
Based on The Story of Darien Connecticut
by Museum of Darien Historian Ken Reiss
Trail Marker
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