Norfolk Country Club

Norfolk sits higher above sea level than any other town in Connecticut, and by the early 1900s its lakes, ponds and rustic countryside had made it a summer retreat for New York families, reachable by a short train journey. Many built substantial homes on large parcels of land, and the village's musical performances at the Stoeckel estate and Village Hall added to its appeal.

In 1912 a committee of these summer residents formed a club to serve as a shared gathering place for social and sporting life. The new Country Club of Norfolk leased the town's former gymnasium on Maple Avenue — designed in 1892 by Henry Rutgers Marshall and little used at the time — and converted it into a clubhouse with views toward Haystack Mountain. Early club life centered on dinner dances, concerts, plays and lectures, along with two tennis courts facing Maple Avenue.