Tennis at Town Hall? The building we know as Town Hall was originally the Eldridge Gymnasium, built in 1892. Located within easy walking distance of hotels and boarding houses in Norfolk at the turn of the last century, the Gymnasium was a popular gathering place for both residents and visitors. People played croquet on the lawn and tennis on the grass courts in front of the building. The Bridgman tennis tournament was held there annually in August and the CT State Championships in 1915. Among the notable players who appeared in Norfolk was Karl Behr. Behr was a doubles finalist at Wimbledon in 1907 and a member of the United States Davis Cup team. Between 1906 and 1915, he was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 seven times. But perhaps most memorable to Norfolk townsfolk, as reported in the newspaper, was his voyage on the Titanic, with his future wife Helen Newsom. Both survived.  

–Ann Havemeyer