Norfolk Then…
The Dudley Tannery and bark shed, pictured here in an early 20th century photograph by Frank DeMars, stood at the corner of Ashpohtag Road and Route 44 in West Norfolk. Tanning was once a thriving industry in Norfolk, the second largest after the woolen industry in the mid-19th century. The State of Connecticut Report of […]
Norfolk Then…
Meet the Curtisses. Back in the days when there were ten district schools in Norfolk, the Curtiss children walked a mile each day to attend the North End School, located off Doolittle Drive near Wheeler Road and pictured behind them. In fact, they were the only children who attended this school, which was thus often […]
Norfolk Then…
With the Norfolk Curling Club temporarily out of commission owing to Covid-19 restrictions, have a look at the earliest days of curling in Norfolk. The sport was introduced here sixty-six years ago by Elisabeth Childs, whose father, John Walcott Calder, had been an avid curler in Utica, N.Y. The first games were held on Tamarack […]
Norfolk Then…
The Church of Christ Congregational is the picture of Victorian abundance in this exuberant Christmas evergreen display as photographed by Marie Kendall around 1900. Mary and Isabella Eldridge, daughters of the Rev. Joseph Eldridge, were responsible for many of the decorations in the church at this time. From their elaborate Italian gardens which descended in […]
Norfolk Then…
One hundred years ago on Nov. 2, 1920, Norfolk women cast their ballots in a presidential election for the first time. This photograph is a timely reminder of the long struggle fought by many dedicated women for basic civil liberties including the right to vote. Pictured at the annual convention of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage […]
Norfolk Then …
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 20th century. Porter was a summer resident of Norfolk, and he named his summer retreat “Elm Court,” likely for the many elm trees that surrounded […]
Norfolk Then…
This house was built by Robbins Battell Stoeckel in 1907, one of two houses still standing side by side on Litchfield Road designed by the architect Ehrick K. Rossiter. Robbins was the brother-in-law of Ellen Battell Stoeckel, who founded the Norfolk Musical Festival, and the son of Gustave Stoeckel, German immigrant and Professor of Music […]
Norfolk Then
Miss Anna Thompson built her Shingle Style “cottage” on Laurel Way in 1894. By then, Norfolk had become a popular summer resort, and the arrival of summer visitors and residents was announced weekly in the local paper. On May 9, 1895, it was reported that “Miss A. K. Thompson who keeps a select boarding school […]
Norfolk Then…
William H. Moseley was a “hotel man” from New Haven when he built this house on Laurel Way about 1890. He and his brother Seth were the proprietors of the popular New Haven House and two hotels in New York: Hotel Somerset at West 47th Street and Hotel Colonial at West 81st Street. Moseley named […]
Norfolk Then…
This edition of Norfolk Then is the first in a series to feature Norfolk houses. Look for them as you walk or drive through town. Pictured here is the house built in 1898 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spofford as their summer home. The son of Ainsworth Spofford, librarian of Congress, Charles Spofford was an […]
