Norfolk County, Former administrative county in colonial Massachusetts, United States
Norfolk County was a historical administrative territory along the colonial Massachusetts coast, extending from the Merrimack River north to the Piscataqua River. The area stretched approximately twelve miles inland and included major early settlements such as Salisbury, Hampton, Haverhill, Exeter, Dover, and Portsmouth.
The Massachusetts General Court established this county on May 10, 1643, as one of four original administrative territories in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When New Hampshire separated from Massachusetts in 1680, the county was dissolved and its lands redistributed.
The administrative records, preserved in four volumes at Essex County Registry of Deeds in Salem, show how colonial governance worked in practice. These documents reveal how settlers organized their communities and made decisions.
The remains of this historical administrative territory are scattered across multiple locations today, with documentary records accessible in Salem. Visitors can explore the former settlements individually since they are spread across a large geographic area.
This territory was one of the earliest county-level administrative divisions in North America and served as a model for how other colonies organized their lands. Its brief existence of just 37 years makes it an important yet overlooked marker in early American governance.
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