Norfolk County, Massachusetts Colony facts for kids

Norfolk County in Massachusetts and New Hampshire (created in 1643 part of Massachusetts Bay Colony) had six towns shown in red and black. This is overlaid on a map of present-day MA and NH town borders in white.

Norfolk County, Massachusetts Colony was one of the first four counties ever created in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This was a very early English settlement in North America. The county was formed on May 10, 1643. At that time, the leaders decided to divide the entire colony into four main areas, which they called "sheires" (or counties).

What Was Old Norfolk County?

Norfolk County included several early settlements. These towns were Salisbury, Hampton, Haverhill, Exeter, Dover, and Portsmouth. The county covered the land from the Merrimack River in the south up to the Piscataqua River in the north. It also stretched inland for about twelve miles.

How Did Old Norfolk County Change?

At first, the land that became Norfolk County was separate from Massachusetts. But there were disagreements about where the borders were. So, the people living there asked to join the Massachusetts colonial government.

In 1680, a big change happened. The area known as the Province of New Hampshire officially separated from Massachusetts. Norfolk County was a big part of this new province. Massachusetts kept the northern side of the Merrimack River. The towns of Salisbury and Haverhill then became part of Essex County.

Hampton, Exeter, Dover, and Portsmouth were governed by both their local town leaders and the larger province. This continued until 1769. That year, New Hampshire itself was divided into its own counties. At that point, Norfolk County officially stopped existing. Because of this history, this original county is often called "Old Norfolk County."

What Happened to Its Records?

Even though Old Norfolk County no longer exists, its history is still important. Four books of its old records still exist today. These records are kept at the Essex County Registry of Deeds in Salem.

These old record books have been scanned into digital image files. However, they are not yet available to view online. A historian named Sidney Perley also summarized these four record books. He published his summaries in a magazine called The Essex Antiquarian. This magazine was published from 1897 to 1911. Some volumes of this magazine are available online through Google Books.

Is There a New Norfolk County?

Yes, there is a "new" Norfolk County, Massachusetts today. However, it is completely unrelated to the old one. The current Norfolk County was created in 1793. It was formed from most of the southern part of Suffolk County.