William Smith arrived from Scotland and bought 320 acres along the Highline Canal bounded by today's Moline and Potomac streets and 1st and 6th avenues. Some 47 acres of his farm are now occupied by a residential area, Del Mar Park (1957), but Smith's four-square Farm-house still stands and has been restored.
The house is beige pressed brick under a hipped roof with overhanging eaves bracketed at the corners. A porch extending from the pedimented entry gable wraps the west corner. Decorative detail includes the original stained and leaded glass, a tiger oak fireplace surround, a Texas pine stairway, and a built-in china cabinet. Smith founded the Aurora public schools in 1885 and served as secretary of the school board until 1935. His daughter, Margaret, occupied the house until her death in 1982.