Gay City State Park

Ghost town · Capitol County, Connecticut

Gilead quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1892, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Gay City State Park is a ghost town in Capitol County, Connecticut, recorded as recreation area in Connecticut, United States. It is one of 7 former communities in Capitol County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 3rd among the 9 Connecticut counties with a vanished settlement on record.

Gay City State Park was established in 1944, in the interwar years.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Gay City State Park as a historical populated place: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 41.7261° N, 72.4400° W.

Key facts

Founded	1944
Elevation	582 ft
Nearest living town	Manchester, CT
Distance to it	5.5 miles
Coordinates	41.72611, -72.44000

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Gay City State Park is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Manchester, CT (population 36,561), about 5.5 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 582 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Images

Split Rock formation on Split Rock Trail in Gay City State Park (Connecticut). · Morrowlong / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Nearby places

Hassunadchuauck
ghost town · Capitol County · 6.4 mi
Naubuc
ghost town · Capitol County · 8.8 mi
Comstock's Bridge
covered bridge · Lower Connecticut River Valley County · 12 mi
Hartford Toll Bridge (1818)
covered bridge · Capitol County · 12 mi
Rocky Hill
ghost town · Capitol County · 13 mi
Benvenue
ghost town · Lower Connecticut River Valley County · 13.6 mi
Johnsonville
ghost town · Lower Connecticut River Valley County · 16 mi
Barber Corner
ghost town · Capitol County · 17 mi
Natchaug
ghost town · Northeastern Connecticut County · 17.8 mi
Enfield–Suffield Covered Bridge
covered bridge · Capitol County · 19.2 mi
Spoonville
ghost town · Capitol County · 19.8 mi
Crescent Grove
ghost town · Capitol County · 21.1 mi

Questions

Where is Gay City State Park?

Gay City State Park is in Capitol County, Connecticut, at 41.7261, -72.4400.

How many ghost towns are in Capitol County?

Capitol County, Connecticut has 7 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Wikidata — Wikidata item (CC0)
Wikidata — Wikipedia article (linked as a source; text not used) (CC0)
U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line and ACS — Census Gazetteer + ACS 5-year population (public-domain)

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.