The Town of Norfolk is a rural suburban town on the periphery of
metropolitan Boston, located on an upper valley of the Charles River.
There were a half dozen small farms in the town after 1669, the result of a
determined effort to populate the Colonial frontier. This was seen as a
difficult task despite the good agricultural lands, fresh water fishing and
fish runs because the settlement was so remote.
It was abandoned during the King Philip’s war, and when Norfolk was
re-established settlers relied on agriculture and cattle grazing with some
considerable lumbering and planting of orchards. After 1812, three cotton
manufacturing companies were established at Stony Brook, and later in the
19th century George Campbell’s paper mill was opened at Highland Lake
making heavy wrapping and building papers. In the modern era, the town saw
a rapid increase in population after 1925 when the state built a state
prison in Norfolk and a hospital. Major residential development took place
before 1940 in the Pondville and Clark Streets section of town with
scattered new housing along Seekonk and Main Streets, and suburban
residential building has continued since.
metropolitan Boston, located on an upper valley of the Charles River.
There were a half dozen small farms in the town after 1669, the result of a
determined effort to populate the Colonial frontier. This was seen as a
difficult task despite the good agricultural lands, fresh water fishing and
fish runs because the settlement was so remote.
It was abandoned during the King Philip’s war, and when Norfolk was
re-established settlers relied on agriculture and cattle grazing with some
considerable lumbering and planting of orchards. After 1812, three cotton
manufacturing companies were established at Stony Brook, and later in the
19th century George Campbell’s paper mill was opened at Highland Lake
making heavy wrapping and building papers. In the modern era, the town saw
a rapid increase in population after 1925 when the state built a state
prison in Norfolk and a hospital. Major residential development took place
before 1940 in the Pondville and Clark Streets section of town with
scattered new housing along Seekonk and Main Streets, and suburban
residential building has continued since.
