A Hartford Stash House

Last week the Hartford Courant reported on a raid of a drug "stash house" on 121 Gilman Street in the South End. In the raid of the house Hartford Police found over a kilo of raw heroin and $22,000 being hidden in the house by Julio Ramos. With such an exciting development, there was no doubt that we immediatley would have to take a ride and see what a Hartford stash house looks like.
The South End is full of neighborhoods that have decayed and become crime havens. Gilman Street doesn't appear to be one of those neighborhoods. Pulling onto Gilman Street it is noticeably different from many of the streets around it. This block is what we picture South End neighborhoods looked like when people fondly remember the halcyon days of the area.

The houses on Gilman are all well maintained. The yards are well groomed and clean. Hardly any of the houses even had as much as a front lawn that needed mowing. The streets were quiet and we'd venture to guess most wouldn't even think we were on Hartford if brought to the street.

As we got close to 121 Gilman, we were excited. Would there still be police stationed around the stash house? Would there be any signs of criminal activity? Would there be security cameras around the perimeter of the house? What we found was the house couldn't have been more benign. The only thing even remotely notable about the stash house was that the upstairs blinds were drawn.

The well manicured stash house

What of the neighbors of the stash house? The house to the left of the stash house was a very quaint, well maintained brick home. If there was anything remarkable about the house it was the perfect condition and the perfectly maintained lawn and driveway.

The neighbor to the right was the "worst" house on the block. It appears to be empty and in need of some lawn care. The yawning tree provides some coverage from the street that we could think a criminal operation might enjoy. That given, this apparently empty house is hardly an eyesore in a city dotted with burnt out abandoned houses.

Our lesson for the day? It appears any house can be a stash house, heck they even took time to mow the lawn at this one. Also with the stash house now out of business, Gilman Street looks like a very nice place to live for those looking in the South End.