Gully Homestead

The Gully Homestead, the oldest known dwelling in Aurora, is significant as the most important surviving historic resource associated with the early agricultural period of the city's history. It was homesteaded and owned for many years by the Gully family, among the earliest settlers of Aurora.

Aurora's history dates back to the 1890s, with its economy initially based on agriculture. However, significant growth caused by the influx of the military during the 1920s and 1940s, and the business and residential growth of the 1970s and 1980s, has left but a few remnants of the city's agricultural beginnings. (Aurora is one of the fastest growing communities in the United States with a 1985 population of 208,000, compared to 70,000 in 1970--an increase of more than 111%.)

Early development of the region was associated with the fur trade and early transportation along the various trails, four of which passed through this area. Stage stations were located close to the Gully property for many years. Many of the first settlers, disillusioned with the promise of wealth in the mining camps, elected to settle on the plains near Denver and farm. With the arrival of the railroad in 1870 and the influx of European investors, the farmland in what is now Aurora was quickly settled. Encouraged and recruited by English investment companies, many Irish, Scottish, and English farmers moved to the Aurora area to homestead, either on leased land or on land they themselves homesteaded.

Thomas and Temperance Teresa Gully came to America from Ireland around 1862. According to Stone's History of Colorado, the family spent some time in the mining camps of Central City, Blackhawk, and Silver Plume before settling at Tollgate Creek in Aurora. The family included Bridget, the oldest daughter who had married John Delaney in Ireland; Jane, married to John Slattery; Edward, married to Della; Thomas, married to Margaret; James; and John who married Elizabeth Clifford.

Thomas built the family home in about 1870-71, building the one-room portion in 1870 and the two-story addition in 1871. According to the 1870 census, Thomas owned the farm which was valued at 500 dollars. His sons Thomas, Edward, James, and John lived on the farm although they are not listed as working with their father. In 1879 Thomas, Sr., officially filed for a homestead on the property that included the house. In the 1880 census, only Thomas and John were still at home and were listed as working the farm with their father. By October of that year Thomas, Sr., had died leaving the property to his wife Temperance. In 1883 she applied for a homestead on the land and immediately deeded the land to Thomas, Jr.

In 1885 Thomas, Jr., deeded the property to his younger brother John. From that time, he, his wife Elizabeth, and their children held the property. The children of John, 1850-1915, and Elizabeth, 1866-1927, were Mary, 1893-1977, who later married John O'Brien; James E., 1896-1962; two children who didn't survive childhood; John T., 1900-1953; William, 1902-1952; and Elizabeth A., 1904-1950. The four younger children lived on the farm until their deaths. Elizabeth married Mr. Mann, and their daughter Betty Mann Sala was the final owner of the house before it was acquired by the City of Aurora in 1978.