With a gentle breeze rippling the surface of a secluded pond, dazzling sunshine illuminating ferns and wildflowers, and melodious calls of songbirds echoing through verdant woodlands, Gay City State Park in Hebron embodied the essence of serenity when three of us visited one glorious morning last week.

Such tranquility belied the 1,569-acre tract’s tumultuous, violent past, when feuding religious groups clashed, two reported murders went unsolved, and legends spread about specters haunting the region.

Founded in 1796 by Methodists who were at odds with Hartford Congregationalists, the settlement initially was known as Factory Hollow after John Gay, who arrived with members of his extended family, began building lumber and textile mills on the Blackledge River.

The settlers also constructed a distillery — according to local lore, they liberally incorporated alcohol use in their liturgical rituals.

Not long after the settlement’s founding, rumors swirled about the discovery of a local peddler’s skeleton in the local charcoal burner’s charcoal pit, an apparent murder victim. The alleged crime was never solved.

Atlas Obscura, an online magazine and travel company, describes another disturbing tale, involving an intoxicated blacksmith’s apprentice who showed up late for work.

“The blacksmith, enraged at the lateness, stabbed him, then cut off his head,” the magazine’s website reports.

Today, scant vestiges of this settlement remain — a scattering of crumbled foundations and a small graveyard with teetering tombstones. After fires destroyed the old mills and residents departed for jobs in city factories, Gay City became a ghost town in the late 1800s.

Emma Foster, one of the last surviving members of the Gay family, sold her land to the state in 1943, with the stipulation that it be called Gay City. The property became a state park a year later.

Maggie Jones, Phil Plouffe and I noticed a few old walls and the ruins of a mill, but for the most part, nature seems to have done a good job reclaiming the land. In addition, after its designation as a park, workers converted abandoned gravel roads into hiking trails, established a small beach at Still Pond, and cleared areas for picnicking and youth group camping.

Gay City, a popular central Connecticut recreation area, particularly for day hikes, also is an excellent site for birdwatching, especially this time of year when migratory birds are winging their way south.

Phil and I only noticed flashes of feathers, but Maggie began reciting a variety of species: “Palm warblers, magnolia warblers, prairie warblers, eastern kingbirds…” All eventually will wind up spending the winter in Central and South America.

Standing on a wooden bridge overlooking a small pond, we also watched a mixed flock feeding on insects. At one point, a phoebe caught a dragonfly — quite an aeronautic feat — and gobbled it down while perched on a nearby branch. The phoebe flicked its tail a few times — a characteristic trait — and then flew off.

We had intended to hike about five miles on a red-blazed path around the park’s perimeter, but could not locate the trailhead, even after triple-checking a trail map. We did see one path that looked as if it would lead to the red trailhead, but it was blocked by a fence marked with a No Trespassing sign.

Instead, we detoured to a white-blazed path that eventually intersected with the red trail.

After returning to the parking lot a couple hours later, we were puzzled: Where the heck was the start of the red trail? I approached an older gentleman who was seated on a bench near the white path trailhead.

“Excuse me, do you know where the red trail starts?” I asked. “The only path we saw said no trespassing.”

“Oh, just ignore that sign,” the man said cheerfully. He then gave detailed instructions to the path.

“Let’s go!” we exclaimed, and set off at a brisk pace.

We managed to reach the unmarked, partially obscure trailhead while avoiding the off-limits section, and wound up hiking a couple more miles to complete the red trail loop. We also tacked on a few detours, bringing our total distance closer to eight miles.

A wonderful walk, we agreed.

Gay City State Park is about 40 miles northwest of New London. Follow Route 85 north; the park entrance is 6.7 miles past the Route 66 intersection. If you’re planning to hike the red trail, a partially obscured, unmarked trailhead is only a few feet from Route 85, just north of the park entrance.