"The Tokeneke area became popular about the same time (after the Civil War), although a small vanguard of discerning New York people had long since discovered its charm. In 1866 Vincent Colyer had bought 40 acres of Contentment Island for a house and studio. His friend, John F. Kensett, a distinguished painter of the Hudson River school, visited him there, and painted a number of landscapes of the shoreline.

Among the prominent people who owned property or spent summers in Tokeneke in those days were: Herbert Witherspoon, the director of the Metropolitan Opera; John McCormack, the famous tenor; the authors Richard LeFallienne and Honoré Willsie Morrow; Laurette Taylor, an actress; and Richard Tjader, a big game hunter.

And so it was that Darien became a summer resort."-Louise H. McLean

Sources:
Case, Henry J. and Simon W. Cooper Town of Darien: Founded 1641 Incorporated 1820. Rahway, NJ: Quinn & Boden Co., 1935.

McLean, Louise H., "A Brief History of Darien" Darien Historical Sketches. Essex, Connecticut: Pequot Press, 1970.