It is winter in Norfolk. The year is 1948. With two restaurants, a liquor store, a bank and a drugstore, commerce is lively on “Main Street,” even as pedestrians navigate the piles of snow. The brick block, built in 1913 as the Martini Hotel and demolished in 1994, houses the Norfolk Liquor Shop, advertising “Free Delivery” by calling “466.” Next door is the First National Store (a chain later known by the acronym Finast) and, beyond that, Casey’s Restaurant offers “Seafood,” “Ice Cream” and “Pot Roast of Beef.” Whalen’s Restaurant is housed in the building that is now Infinity Hall, and the Norfolk Drugstore is located just past the Norfolk Bank, in the Royal Arcanum Building now occupied by Wood Creek Bar and Grill. Unlike today, there is parking on both sides of the road, although the directive on the sign at the right, “No Parking During Winter Storm,” has been followed.

—Ann Havemeyer