Lost Tracks: Norwalk's Historic Trolley Tour

In the late 19th and early20th century, trolleys tied together the towns that eventually became the city of Norwalk. Children rode them to school. Shoppers took them to go downtown, uptown and even to other towns. Workers in the cigar factories and hat factories and corset factories rode them home very evening. And, on summer weekends,families got on open trolleys with their picnic baskets to enjoy a summer day at Roton Point. Today’s Norwalkers can revisit those routes with Norwalk Preservation Trust’s fall event: Lost Tracks – A Trolley Tour of Norwalk.  It’s a chance to travel back in time and hear the clang, clang, clang of the trolley on Norwalk streets once again.
         Scheduled for September 15th, the tour will retrace the path of some of Norwalk’s trolley routes.  The tour includes stops at historic points along the way such as the Trolley Barn on Wall Street and Roton Point. The tracks are long gone, so the tour will use buses designed as replicas of trolleys from the early 1900s to reproduce the experience. Reenactors in period costumes will join the tour at various points to bring history to life.   Former City Historian Ralph Bloom and NPT president, architectural historian Tod Bryant, will provide insight into “Lost Norwalk” while discussing historic buildings that once stood along the route.  Photos of some of these lost pieces of our history will be included in the program for the tour. 

   There
will be a reception with refreshments at the end of the tour at Tinto Tapas Bar
in the renovated Trolley Barn. Music for the reception will be provided by advanced
student from the Talent Education Suzuki School of Norwalk. Gold Sponsors for the tour include M.  F. DiScala and Company, Inc.; Harris, Harris
& Schmid, Inc., along with Preservationist sponsors First Taxing District, Tuliptree
Site Design, The Norwalk Redevelopment Agency and Tinto Tapas Bar.  Tickets
must be purchased in advance by visiting the Norwalk Preservation Trust website ww.norwalkpresevation.org or call
203-852-9788 for more information.

            Lost Tracks is the third annual Norwalk Living History Tour conducted by the Norwalk Preservation Trust. The previous tours have been very successful and well-attended.  Last year’s tour revealed the “hidden in plain sight” secrets of Norwalk’s 19th century rural hamlets: the schoolhouse, chapel and stores that were the heart of the farming communities of Broad River, Cranbury, West Norwalk and Brookside. In 2011, NPT launched the Living History Tours with an inside look at some of Norwalk’s  18th century houses, restored and lived in today.         


            “Lost Tracks – Norwalk’s Historic Trolley Tour” is the kickoff event for Norwalk Historic Fortnight: Celebrating the Consolidation, which includes sixteen events over thirteen days at many venues around town.  The tour is part of the First Taxing District’s celebration of its 100th anniversary.  More information can be found at www.norwalkpubliclibrary.org The tour is also part of the ongoing “Faces of Norwalk” program presented by Norwalk2.0. More information can be found at http://www.norwalk2.org

            Norwalk
Preservation Trust is a nonprofit organization that works to preserve Norwalk’s
irreplaceable historic buildings and neighborhoods by raising awareness,
partnering with other organizations and taking appropriate action when
necessary. We fulfill our mission through education, information, advocacy
award programs, and public events. Our goal is to be a preservation resource
for property owners, businesses and developers as well as city, state and
national organizations and government agencies. We believe that Norwalk’s
historic environment and architectural heritage should be a living part of the
community.