Gay City State Park, State park and former mill village in Connecticut, United States

Gay City State Park covers 1,569 acres of dense forest, millpond and marshland on the Blackledge River, straddling Hebron and Bolton and bordering Meshomasic State Forest. Traces of the 19th-century mill village survive as foundations, stone walls and water ditches among the trees. A five-mile trail tours the whole park.

The community was established in 1796 by a religiously motivated group led by Elijah Andrus, with later leadership under Reverend Henry P. Sumner. The settlement declined around the time of the Civil War as the population dwindled and residents eventually moved away.

The name Gay City comes from the Gay family, who made up most of the roughly 25 families in the mill village of Factory Hollow. Local legends hold that the area is haunted. The village's twice-weekly religious services were marked by free use of alcohol, which caused tensions among residents.

A five-mile trail tours the whole park, and paths link Gay City to Blackledge Falls in Glastonbury and, through Meshomasic State Forest, to Birch Mountain Road and the Case Mountain trails. The terrain is wooded and uneven, with foundations, stone walls and ditches beside the paths. A lifeguarded pond is used for swimming.

Several old mills in the park burned down during different periods of American history, contributing to the community's decline. These losses represent a turning point in why residents eventually abandoned the settlement.