The inspiration for this book is to be found in the extensive archives of the LGC collected by members over the years and donated to Litchfield Historical Society. Research and compiled by club historian Lynne Brickley, the written records of the club provide excellent documentation of many aspects of local history from 1913 to the present. Founded at the height of the colonial revival reinvention of Litchfield as an idealized and largely mythical New England village of the Revolutionary period, the LGC has played a major role in the creation and preservation of that image. The very fabric of the town in 2013 and its national prominence as a place of beauty is, in no small way, the result of the century of work of the club.

The LGC has a well-established reputation for excellence in all its activities. The club, its committees and individual members have all received many awards for work in horticulture, floral design, conservation, civic and educational projects. From its earliest projects the LGC has been recognized for its work to document, preserve, protect and restore the town’s landscape heritage. Its pioneering efforts to establish Town Commissions, including Planning and Zoning, Inland Wetlands, Solid Waste and Town Beautification are less well known, as are its 100 years of providing conservation and environmental education for Litchfield school students.
Much of the work of the LGC has been well “ahead” of its time. In the 1910s LGC members campaigned against roadside advertising billboards and worked locally to protect wild flowers. The club recognized the hazards of DDT before the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and introduced Litchfield to the ideas of recycling, protection of the Bantam River watershed and land preservation.