The 1868 Soldiers’ Monument on the village green is one of the earliest tributes to Civil War veterans in Connecticut. A tall obelisk, it bears a dedication on its western face which reads “To the memory of the soldiers from this town who died for their country in the war of the rebellion.” The names of 35 Norfolk soldiers killed in the line of duty are etched in granite. The monument was likely constructed in time for the first national commemoration of Memorial Day, held on May 30, 1868, and originally called Decoration Day, when more than 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in Arlington National Cemetery. A remarkable discovery in the late 1990s by historian David Blight brought to light an even earlier Memorial Day commemoration, perhaps the first and most poignant. Soon after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865, a group of freed black slaves organized a tribute to fallen Union soldiers at a racetrack in Charleston, where the war began. Here in Norfolk, folks gathered on the village green as they do today. Notice the rustic twig benches and gazebos, popular in the late 19th century.

—Ann Havemeyer

Photo courtsey of the Norfolk Historical Society