The house on the corner of Greenwoods Road and Maple Avenue was the home of Dr. William H. Porter of New York when this photograph was taken in the early 20^th century. Porter was a summer resident of Norfolk, and he named his summer retreat “Elm Court,” likely for the many elm trees that surrounded the nearby Village Green. However, the location hardly provided a retreat from the noise of the locomotives passing underneath Greenwoods Road in front of his house.  The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company operated the Central New England Railroad, and in addition to passenger service―in 1900 there were six eastbound passenger trains and six westbound trains passing through Norfolk each day―there were freight trains which transported anthracite coal from Pennsylvania. Although the arrival of trains at the station provided excitement to many in Norfolk, it was heralded by shrill whistles and the loud clanging of a brass bell. Departures meant clouds of smoke billowing from the engine and emerging through the wooden planks visible in the foreground of this photograph. While Dr. Porter complained bitterly that smoke and soot from locomotives were damaging his house, there was not much he could do except apply a fresh coat of paint annually.