The Gully Homestead is a former homestead located at 200 S. Chambers Road in
Aurora, Colorado
Aurora (, ) is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States. The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census with 336,035 residing in Arapahoe County, 47,720 residing in A ...
.
Thomas Gully, his wife Temperance, and their four children came to Colorado in 1862. Thomas, an Irish immigrant, moved to the Colorado Territory to work in the mines, but decided to try his hand at farming shortly after.
The Gullys claimed 11,000 acres near the Toll Gate Creek and built a small log home.
It operated as a ranch by his descendants until the 1950s. The home also served as a community center and a polling place.
The farm house, believed to be the oldest home in Aurora, consists of two parts; the kitchen (ca. 1866), and the main house, believed to be built in 1870. The two sections are connected.
The home sat vacant from the early 1950s until 1978. It was determined to be sitting in a floodplain. The developer who owned the house donated it to the city with the stipulation the house would be moved.
It was relocated to its current site, in the DeLaney Farm Historic District, along with a chicken coop in 1982, and restored the home in 1983. The City of Aurora established the area as a park.
The house came into ownership by the city of Aurora in 1978.
[ With ] The City restored the home and it is open for tours and school trips.
Several structures stand on the property, including the 1902
Round Barn
A round barn is a historic barn design that could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in plan. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880 to 1920 represent th ...
, a 1949 shed, a privy and the Delaney house, ca. 1890. The Coal Creek School House (1920) sits on the edge of the site.
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Arapahoe County, Colorado
References
External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110810004200/http://www.historycolorado.org/oahp/arapahoe-county
•* https://www.thefencepost.com/news/the-ol-gully-ranch/
•https://www.auroragov.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_1881137/File/Things%20to%20Do/Aurora%20History%20Museum/GullyFamilyandFarming_1.9.17.pdf
Houses in Aurora, Colorado
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
National Register of Historic Places in Arapahoe County, Colorado
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