Norfolk Then…
George T. Johnson purchased this drugstore on Main Street (Greenwoods Road) in 1876. It is said that when he came east from Texas, he had intended to go to Norfolk, Virginia, but when he arrived at Grand Central Station in New York City, he was mistakenly given a ticket to Norfolk, Connecticut. He stayed and […]
Norfolk Then…
The Connecticut Western Railroad line was completed in 1871, and on Dec. 21 of that year the first train arrived in Norfolk with 20 passengers on board. It had left Hartford at 8:40 a.m. and would reach Millerton at 3:30 that afternoon. Passengers disembarked in Norfolk at the station pictured here. By the time the […]
Norfolk Then…
With the bridge replacement project on Mountain Road underway, this early 20th century photograph of the bridge shows a rustic-style guard rail bordering the road and sidewalk crossing Norfolk Brook. Characterized by the use of twigs, branches, and bark, the rustic style had been used in formal English gardens in the 1700’s and in this […]
Norfolk Then…
When automobiles appeared on the streets of Norfolk, Augustus P. Curtiss converted the stable housing his horse and carriage livery business to a garage stocked with automotive supplies and gasoline. The garage was located on Shepard Road. Look carefully and you will notice Shell’s familiar scallop shell logo on top of the gasoline pump (the […]
Norfolk Then…
One of the earliest photographs of Norfolk was taken in 1878 from the location of the present post office. It shows a barren village center. Visible in the background are familiar Norfolk landmarks: the Congregational Church and Whitehouse. On the far right is the stone building, still standing, that housed the Norfolk Bank. To its […]
Norfolk Then…
The annual Norfolk Ski Jumping Competition was held for five years beginning in 1933. With Olympic champions and some of the country’s best skiers competing, the event always attracted a large crowd. The 150-foot natural slope jump on the side of Canaan Mountain was designed by Scandinavian skier Birger Torrissen, who was among a group […]
Norfolk Then…
Harry “Doc” Cook was in the drugstore business in Norfolk for almost 50 years. His store was located in the northwest corner of the Royal Arcanum building, where the Wood Creek Bar & Grill is now housed. The genial Doc Cook dispensed medicinal cures of all sorts, along with a variety of goods including lamps, […]
Norfolk Then…
Two Norfolk landmarks, currently under repair, are pictured here in the early 20th century. Battell Fountain was the gift of Mary Eldridge to the town in 1889. A Stanford White design with decorative bronze lamps and globe by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the fountain provides streams of water from several imaginative spouts. At the top of the […]
Norfolk Then…
It is time to harvest the hay on the Thomas Carroll farm. With a view toward Haystack Mountain, this photograph was taken on Crissey Hill above the Carroll hayfields about 1895. The house known as Crissey Place at the south end of the Village Green is clearly visible from the rear, and peeking up from […]
Norfolk Then…
With poplars and maple trees lining the sidewalk, Station Place presented a bucolic setting to the visitor arriving at the newly constructed railroad station (center) in the early 20th century. One could hardly guess that an impressive business boom was under way, heralded in the local paper as the biggest boom Norfolk had ever witnessed. […]
