The history of Perrin Family Park began 100,000 years ago when the swollen Ohio River deposited sand gravel from the melting Illinoisan glacier.

 

Shawnee Indians were present until the War of 1812. Many years of farming unearthed Indian arrowheads and other artifacts. George Rogers Clark became the first legal property owner in 1783. H.L. (Duley) and Catherine Perrin purchased the land in 1943. They maintained a dairy farm on the property for 31 years.

 

Reading about a farmer, Noel Perrin (no relation), who had donated the land for a nature preserve, and concerned about the fate of their farm, the Perrins decided to give something back to the community. In 1984, the Perrin’s established a foundation and charged it with the task of developing the 98-acre facility. They not only provided the land, but established a trust whose proceeds maintain the Park free of any public funds.