With plans for City Meadow moving forward, it’s time to look back to the 1890s when this photograph was taken. Battell Meadow, as it was then called, was a pastoral scene with stone walls, split-rail fencing and grazing cattle. The property belonged to Robbins Battell, who lived in Whitehouse, now part of the Stoeckel Estate. His water tower was a conspicuous landmark on the meadow for many years until it was taken down in 1900. In the middle distance, the newly constructed Center School on Shepard Road is visible to the right. And in the background, a wooden tower on top of Haystack Mountain commands impressive views. It was built by Battell, who purchased large tracts of land to preserve the rural beauty of Norfolk, setting them aside for public use. In 1929 his daughter, Ellen Battell Stoeckel, built the stone tower that stands there today in memory of her father.

—Ann Havemeyer

Photo courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society.