Gilman-Hayden House - East Hartford, Connecticut - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Gilman-Hayden House is a Georgian style home built on a berm on the east side of East Hartford's Main Street. The house stands in a residential area comprised of late nineteenth- and and early twentieth-century homes. Behind the house the land stretches west to the Connecticut River and a region once known as Gilman's landing. The post and beam framed house stands two-and-a-half stories high and is topped by a gable roof. Built in 1784, the five-bay dwelling was designed on the central-hall plan, with twin, interior brick chimneys. It is an early example of the vernacular Georgian style in this community.

The Gilman-Hayden House has been associated with prominent East Hartford families who helped to settle the community and guide its growth over the past two centuries. The Bidwells, who sold the lot where the house stands, were among the town's founders, and the Gilmans, who built the house, were also early settlers who dominated the agrarian northwestern district of the community. The Williams family, relatives of the famous William Williams (one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence), occupied the house during the second quarter of the nineteenth century; but it was a relative of the Williams', a young man named Edward Williams Hayden, whose association with this property has created its particular significance.

Edward Hayden (1842-1878) owned and occupied this house from 1865 until his death. He was a prolific diarist, and his vivid journals of the Civil War have been preserved at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Connecticut. The diaries create a clear picture of a young man's agonizing decision to go to war, the impact of the war experience, and the eventual return to the province of farm and town. His legacy is significant as an example of the cultural patterns created during America's Civil War years. He deliberated carefully over whether or not to go to war, listing columns of pros and cons before enlisting in the army. He worried about leaving his family and farm to go and fight for the Union cause. His thoughts and experiences show the impact of the war on a generation of young men.

The Gilman-Hayden House is representative of the type of house built by Connecticut River Valley citizens in the final quarter of the eighteenth-century. Yet, unlike the majority of late Revolutionary Period homes in the community of East Hartford, this house displays the floor plan and decorative elements of the vernacular Georgian style... While most East Hartford builders clung to the old, central-chimney configuration, often with gable-end overhangs, George Gilman built a house which embraced a new style and concept in the five-bay two-story dwelling. The house retains much of its interior character with large fireplaces, well-preserved panelling, molding, and hardware. The exterior, although updated, retains the symmetrical form and simplicity characteristic of eighteenth-century homes." - National Register Nomination

Street address: 1871 Main St. East Hartford, Connecticut County / Borough / Parish: Hartford Year listed: 1984 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Person, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1750-1799, 1850-1874, 1875-1899 Historic function: Domestic Current function: Domestic Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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