A familiar sign will soon be reinstated

By Ruthann Olsson

One can’t help but smile at the sight of the running dog, the two hares and the stag, as they lead travelers north, south, east and west. The turnpike sign, so much a part of Norfolk’s history, located on the northwest corner of the Green has now been lovingly restored by local artist and designer, Ruthann Olsson. A directional sign guiding the traveler was present on the Village Green as early as the 1700s but weather and the ravages of time would always bring it down within a few short years. This would be followed by the pleadings of residents for its return. In 1868, for example, such a request appeared in the Norfolk section of the Litchfield Enquirer. “There are two topics which can barely be called news. One of these is the public sign-post at the NW corner of the green, which is also made to do duty as a guide-board. The post and boards are all there, and in a tolerable state of preservation, but the lettering has become so indistinct with the lapse of the ages since it was inscribed, and the action of the elements from Noah’s time to the present, that it has become ex- ceedingly difficult for a fluid traveler, in the dark of night, without spectacles, to discern either the roads or the distances the post is supposed to point out. A vote of the town, (if that is necessary), a little black paint, a skillful artist and a very small amount of fractional currency would so abate this small evil that the anxious wayfarer shall as often stop before the post and bless the town.” In 1931 the Selectmen wrote to the Public Works of Art project requesting an artist to paint a new sign for the Green. This particular sign featured two panels, one showing a hare and a dog, the other a hare and a stag. Dr Barstow reported that the sign was here in 1936 when he came to town, but he remembered that a road accident between 1940 and 1945 had knocked it down. The sign was later rediscovered in Winsted, by Frederick Barbour, and he brought the two panels back to the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) where they reside today. Soon after, then-chairman of the NHS, Peggy Hoover, commissioned artist Raymond Dowden to replicate the signs and from the summer of 1965 until the hit-and-run accident in 2005, Norfolk enjoyed 40 years of uninterrupted presence of the turnpike sign on the Green. Olsson restored Dowden’s fading image in 1981, and eight years later, she painted new signs on mahogany boards provided by Ross Burke of Norfolk’s Kingsland Company. Today the many layers of brown varnish have been removed, the dings and gouges caused by flying stones and the accident are gone. The color is fully restored. There are new posts, handmade by Clarence Whitford. And future maintenance is now in the hands of Norfolk artist, Madeline Falk. This fall, when the sign and posts are placed on their new setback footings, the structure will be guarded by three sturdy concrete pillars to protect it from those runaway drivers. This is the gift of Peter Mulville, Carl Gabelman and many volunteers. Another partner in the project is the Norfolk Community Association, which has supported the maintenance necessary to keep the turnpike sign in good condition over all these years.