When the railroad was constructed in 1870, several crossings had to be built in Norfolk: two over Litchfield Road, one under Greenwoods Road, and this one over Shepard Road near the entrance to Mills Way and Emerson Street. Construction of the railroad in Norfolk took two years and provided jobs for transient workers, most of whom were Irish immigrants. When train service ceased in 1938, the rails were taken up and this dangerous, narrow overpass dismantled. Although Haystack Mountain still rises in the distance, the terrain in the photograph looks unfamiliar today because the ground was filled in when the crossing was dismantled. In 1952 a new road was built over the old railroad right of way and named for long-time first selectman John J. Curtiss, another of the many Norfolk residents of Irish descent whose stories are chronicled in this summer’s exhibition at the Norfolk Historical Museum.

Ann Havemeyer

Photo copyright Norfolk Historical Society