Lyman Homestead

Simple Lyman, Not Just a Pieman
Lyman Homestead, Middlefield (Location)
December 2025

The Lyman Homestead is on the Connecticut Underground Railroad Trail, part of The Freedom Trail.

Connecticut museum visit #554.

The Lyman family is Middlefield and Middlefield is Lyman. The present day orchards with it’s bakery/farm/overpriced grocery store, the golf courses, the corn mazes, the apple picking, famous pies, the restaurant, etc. is the reason probably 85% of the people who come to Middlefield come to Middlefield.

I’ll give 8% to Powder Ridge Ski area, 5% to Wadsworth Falls State Park, and 2% for other stuff.

And Lyman Orchards is great! And the history of the Lyman family here is deep and impressive to say the least.

The first Lyman in these parts was John Lyman who purchased 37 acres in 1741. It has grown to over 1,100 acres and besides the orchards and farmland, it is a family destination. But we’re here for 10 generations of history. Members of the Lyman family are still involved in the business and the family and farm still feels like the 19th century at times.

In order for me to see the Homestead, I had to spend some time in the store before taking a horse drawn “carriage” (of sorts) 300 yards across the property. It was a festive touch.

(I should also note that I purchased tickets online ahead of time for $16.50 and had to wait a good half an hour before the mandated “carriage” ride. The homestead is open a few times per year and I think tours are usually given by the excellent historical society during those openings, but in December it’s more of a kid-centric event with crafts and activities instead of history lessons.)

Speaking of the historical society, I learned a lot about the large Lyman family at their Middlefield Historical Society Museum. If I was visiting the homestead during a guided tour, I’m sure a lot of this stuff would have been covered. Stuff like…

Did you know about Lyman gun sights and gun accessories? The company, which is still humming along, began simply in the late 1800’s when William Lyman, an avid outdoorsman and inventor, created a product that resolved problems with gun sights of his day. The commonly used vernier sights were adequate for daytime shooting, but almost useless if lighting was not perfect. Lyman’s No. 1 Tang Sight featured a small disc and a large aperture, a combination that made the thin rim almost invisible and greatly improved the shooter’s vision. His patented design launched the Lyman Gun Sight Company, and today, the Lyman tang and receiver sights still utilize the same principles originated over 140 years ago to enhance both the sight picture and the speed of aiming.

William Worcester Lyman invented the first rotating can opener. The Lyman who invented the gun sight above also invented a rowboat with gearing that allowed hunters to face forward.

Charles Elihu Lyman did something with peach trees and Connecticut was the Peach State for a little while until Charles Elihu got whacked with a New England winter in 1917 and he switched to apples. And voila, today’s Lyman Orchards.

If we go backwards in time, you may know the name Lyman Hall. Apparently that guy, with Lyman as his first name, is somehow distantly related to these Lymans. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and went on to serve as Governor of Georgia… and the namesake of a high school in Wallingford.

There’s more, but let’s focus on the homestead here.

I got my ride over with two cute little kids and their parents. They were there to do crafts, I was there to tour the place on my own as a museum. Gosh, this is a beautiful house.

It is also known as The David Lyman II House and was built around 1860 in the Gothic Revival style. It is not the original house here, but it was built on the foundation of the 1785 Lyman house that preceded it. David Lyman II operated a large farm here of course, and was also a local industrialist, founding (among other businesses) the Air Line Railroad. Wait, really? Oh yeah, I just remembered the Lyman Viaduct in Colchester! These Lymans were never just simple piemans!

As for his being a “local industrialist,” he earned his fortune from manufacturing washing machines and wringers – and of course had major help from his dad and granddad, which is often the case. His house has 24 rooms, although only the ground floor is open for touring. It’s also available for weddings and private events if you’re interested.

The rooms were all beautifully decorated. Lavishly, even. Some bits and pieces here were nods to the past, or homages to classic Christmas literature, but it all seemed quite modern to me.

Some of the Lymans of the past had the quite modern idea that all humans are equal, and they earned a significant place in history by taking a stand against slavery. The Lyman family was involved in the Underground Railroad, openly voicing opposition to fugitive slave laws and refusing to turn runaway slaves in to authorities.

You can read more about David’s and the family’s activities here. It was quite risky to do what they did at the time to say the least.

Less risky was me not waiting for the horses again and simply leaving the house and walking back to my car at the store’s parking lot. I was elated to get into the Homestead after trying to make the rare open dates fit into my schedule.

And yes, I bought some cider donuts.

Lyman Orchards
CTMQ’s Museum Visits