Norfolk Then . . .
Imagine photographer Marie Kendall in a long skirt climbing Canaan Mountain with all her gear—view camera, lenses, tripod, dark cloth, glass plate negatives—and you’ll have some idea of the difficulties she faced to get this shot of West Norfolk about 1890. Ashpohtag Road stretches into the distance through hills that have been stripped bare, the […]
Norfolk Then—September 2019
The Temperance Band has gathered outside Marie Kendall’s barn about 1890. Kendall was a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and the children wear the WCTU’s white ribbon badge. Although they look a little young to be enlisted for the cause of abstinence from alcohol, it was not the first time Norfolk children took […]
Norfolk Then
Tennis at Town Hall? The building we know as Town Hall was originally the Eldridge Gymnasium, built in 1892. Located within easy walking distance of hotels and boarding houses in Norfolk at the turn of the last century, the Gymnasium was a popular gathering place for both residents and visitors. People played croquet on the lawn and tennis […]
Norfolk Then
Roller skating fever struck Norfolk in 1885, as it did many towns across the country. The Norfolk Roller Skating Association that year had 30 members, and the rink was in the newly constructed Village Hall, now known as Infinity Hall, pictured here at that time. The first roller-skating rink had been opened at the Atlantic […]
Norfolk Then . . .
The 1868 Soldiers’ Monument on the village green is one of the earliest tributes to Civil War veterans in Connecticut. A tall obelisk, it bears a dedication on its western face which reads “To the memory of the soldiers from this town who died for their country in the war of the rebellion.” The names […]
Norfolk Then . . .
This familiar building with a handsome touring car parked in front was Dodd’s Garage. The son of an Irish immigrant farmer, Martin B. Dodd (1881-1944) was an early and very successful entrepreneur in the automobile industry. He began quite simply in livery, hanging his shingle in an old blacksmith shop with one car available for […]
Norfolk Then
Travel by railroad was still the best way to get from one place to another in the early 20th century, so a washout on the line was serious business. But paired with a photograph of laundry hanging out to dry, this play on words made for a popular postcard message. The postcard dates from the […]
Norfolk Then . . .
In her long skirt and high-button shoes, photographer Marie Kendall climbed the steeple of the Congregational Church carrying her view camera and glass plates to capture this view of Norfolk looking toward Haystack Mountain. Although the photograph is undated, it was likely taken in mid-March of 1888 after the historic blizzard dumped snow for 36 […]
Norfolk Then . . .
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 […]
Norfolk Then . . .
Chickens on roller skates? Photographer Marie Kendall must have had some pretty cooperative chickens, merry or not as they “roll along” in this Christmas greeting. Many of Kendall’s surprising and delightful images of 19th-century Norfolk can be found in A Remarkable Legacy: The Photographs of Marie Hartig Kendall, published by the Norfolk Historical Society this […]
