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| Gay City Park, CT. Cr: http://www.ctmq.org/gay-city-trails/ |
runs uphill. It's got quite a history, too. Founded in 1796 by a group of Methodists, they were known for pairing their religion with a generous amount of alcohol, believing that heavy drinking and intoxication would bring them closer to God. That led to a lot of things... including grisly murders.
Gay City is a part of the town of Hebron in central Connecticut. The ruins are now Gay City State Park/ The park includes streams, a pond, over 1,500 acres of woods with hiking trails, ruins of old mills and stone foundations and ghosts. The original city was named after John Gay, one of the settlement’s founding fathers.
Several grisly, unsolved murders, along with a large fire at the textile mill, which served as the largest employer, led to Gay City’s gradual abandonment.
According to the blog Damned Connecticut, "The town was originally settled in 1796, when Elijah Andrus led a group of persecuted Methodists out of Hartford to a quieter space along the Blackledge River where they hoped they would be left alone by the regional Congregationalists to live and worship as they pleased. Under the guidance of Rev. Henry Sumner, the faithful—including many members of the Gay family—attended services twice a week, which included imbibing generous amounts of “spirits” in the hope of finding higher spirits.
Apparently, such dedicated alcohol consumption caused a host of social issues, but the settlement continued to thrive.
In 1811, a textile mill was built, and soon other mills, shops, homes and even a distillery followed. The town was soon known as Factory Hollow, and had its ups and downs over the next few decades—the main mill burned down twice, the second time in 1885, and the town never really recovered.
UPHILL RUNNING WATER
According to one story from the Bolton Historical Society, it was claimed that the water in the settlement “ran uphill” from the pond to the mill, which spooked a few residents.
MURDERS IN THE TOWN
Factory Hollow also suffered other problems, including two alleged murders, both of which pre-date the Civil War. According to David Philips’ Legendary Connecticut, the first one involved a jewelry peddler, who may have been robbed and murdered by the village charcoal-burner, although the actual perpetrator was never brought to justice; the unfortunate merchant’s skeleton was discovered in a charcoal pit near the edge of town, damning evidence for some.
The second untimely death involved a blacksmith’s apprentice—the story goes that the young lad showed up late to ye olde shoppe one day and ye olde blacksmithee took extreme exception, stabbing the tardy assistant to death, and then beheading him. As with the other murder, no records exist of the crime, no was anyone apparently ever arrested for it.
THE TOWN ABANDONED, BECOMES A PARK
By the end of the 19th century, the town was essentially abandoned, and then was slowly swallowed up by the surrounding countryside. Finally, the land was sold by Emma Foster (one of the last descendants of those who lived there) to the state in 1943, with the stipulation that the area be renamed Gay City. A year later, Gay City officially became a state park.
GHOSTS
For years, visitors supposedly saw the spirits of the murdered victims wandering around the forests that have now grown up through the village. In 2010, a teenager drown in the pond.
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| Gay City Park, CT. Credit; Damned Connecticut |
Apparently, such dedicated alcohol consumption caused a host of social issues, but the settlement continued to thrive.
In 1811, a textile mill was built, and soon other mills, shops, homes and even a distillery followed. The town was soon known as Factory Hollow, and had its ups and downs over the next few decades—the main mill burned down twice, the second time in 1885, and the town never really recovered.
UPHILL RUNNING WATER
According to one story from the Bolton Historical Society, it was claimed that the water in the settlement “ran uphill” from the pond to the mill, which spooked a few residents.
MURDERS IN THE TOWN
Factory Hollow also suffered other problems, including two alleged murders, both of which pre-date the Civil War. According to David Philips’ Legendary Connecticut, the first one involved a jewelry peddler, who may have been robbed and murdered by the village charcoal-burner, although the actual perpetrator was never brought to justice; the unfortunate merchant’s skeleton was discovered in a charcoal pit near the edge of town, damning evidence for some.
The second untimely death involved a blacksmith’s apprentice—the story goes that the young lad showed up late to ye olde shoppe one day and ye olde blacksmithee took extreme exception, stabbing the tardy assistant to death, and then beheading him. As with the other murder, no records exist of the crime, no was anyone apparently ever arrested for it.
THE TOWN ABANDONED, BECOMES A PARK
By the end of the 19th century, the town was essentially abandoned, and then was slowly swallowed up by the surrounding countryside. Finally, the land was sold by Emma Foster (one of the last descendants of those who lived there) to the state in 1943, with the stipulation that the area be renamed Gay City. A year later, Gay City officially became a state park.
GHOSTS
For years, visitors supposedly saw the spirits of the murdered victims wandering around the forests that have now grown up through the village. In 2010, a teenager drown in the pond.
