Norfolk Historical Society & Museum
Village Green, Norfolk, Connecticut
On the site of the Welch homestead, this plaque commemorates the birthplace of Dr. William H. Welch, son of Dr. William W. Welch and Dean of the Johns Hopkins Medical School, who revolutionized the practice of modern American medicine.
Given by the town in 1892 in memory of Dr. William Wickham Welch, the fountain originally served as a circular watering trough for horses and dogs at the entrance to Westside Road opposite the Welch homestead. Dr. Welch was the last of the dynasty of Welch doctors who took care of Norfolk townsfolk for over … Read more
In 1920 the Town of Norfolk commissioned Alfredo Taylor to design a war memorial that would be large enough to express the forces of war yet simple enough that the fathers and brothers of those who died could have built it. It was to be made of local materials without sculptural decoration. Constructed of granite … Read more
The Central New England Railroad brought flocks of summer visitors to Norfolk when this station was built in 1898. Station Place had become the primary entrance to the village center, and the new “artistic” station presented the proper image of a cultivated town to travelers. Designed by the New York-based firm Hill & Turner, the … Read more
In 1882 a group of ladies saw the need for a hall for lectures and other forms of entertainment and began to raise the necessary funds. With stores and the post office on the first floor and a theater upstairs, the completion of Village Hall in 1883 enhanced the business district and provided a stylish … Read more
Henry Walters of New Britain bought this lot from Augustus P. Lawrence in 1884 and built a house which he offered as a summer cottage rental. Multiple gables, paired windows, and varied surface materials are typical of the late Queen Anne style. An interesting feature is the chamfered corners and woodwork of the front façade.
Alice Eldridge built the gymnasium in 1892 in memory of her cousin Ellen Battell Stoeckel’s son Frederic Battell Terry, who died unexpectedly at the age of sixteen. Designed by Henry Rutgers Marshall and constructed of buff-colored pressed bricks with a broad sloping roof that was originally terra cotta tile, the gymnasium offered rowing machines, exercise … Read more
Isabella Eldridge, daughter of the town pastor, engaged Hartford architect George Keller to design a library for the town in 1888. A disciple of the great American architect Henry Hobson Richardson and architect of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Hartford’s Bushnell Park, Keller used russet freestone, quarried at Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and fish scale … Read more
In 1887 Urania Battell Humphrey engaged New York architect Josiah Cleveland Cady to design a chapel for the Church of Christ in memory of her parents, Joseph and Sarah Robbins Battell. Urania was the widow of James Humphrey, a United States Congressman from Brooklyn. A masterpiece of ecclesiastical design in the Romanesque Revival style, Battell … Read more
Built circa 1810 by Captain Darius Phelps who kept a tavern here, this house later belonged to Ralph Crissey, brother of Theron Crissey, author of History of Norfolk (1900). By then a mansard roof had been added, creating a third floor and making this one of the few Second Empire style houses in Norfolk. During … Read more