Norfolk

Formed March 26, 1793 (12^th county)

Norfolk County (725,999), Dedham* (25,364), Quincy (101,606)

The domed masonry building was constructed in 1903.  It is located at High Street between Church and Court streets.  Massachusetts State Highway 109 is five blocks west of the site.  The courthouse designer is Solomon Willard.  A 1940 District Courthouse in Dedham and augmenting courthouses in Brookline, Quincy, Stoughton, and Wrentham support the county.  The county is named for Norfolk, England.  The county seat is named for Dedham, England.  Norfolk County was the birthplace of 4 Massachusetts Governors, John Hancock, George S. Boutwell, Frank G. Allen, and Michael S. Dukakis.  The county was established on March 26, 1793 from Suffolk County as the 12^th county, with Dedham as the only county seat. 

Norfolk County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Fifteen District Court Judges and Six Probate/Juvenile Court Judges serve Norfolk County.  Norfolk County is in eastern Massachusetts directly southwest of Boston, Massachusetts.  The county center is 6.8 miles South-Southeast of Dedham nearer Canton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Middlesex, Suffolk, Plymouth, and Bristol counties and Rhode Island and Worcester County. 

The area of the county is 400 square miles.  It is 10 out of 14 in the state.  It ranks 5 out of 14 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1815.0 persons per square mile making it 3 out of 14 in the state.  Norfolk County has 36.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 93 comes in from the north, Suffolk County, and terminates.  Interstate Highway 95 crosses north to south in the county from Middlesex County to Bristol County.  United States Highway 1 enters joined with Interstate Highway 93 from Suffolk County, splits, and parallels Interstate Highway 95 into Bristol County.  John Adams, 2^nd President, was born and is buried in this county.  John Quincy Adams, the 6^th President, was also born and is also buried in this county.  John F. Kennedy, the 35^th President, was born in this county.  George H. W. Bush, the 41^st President, was born in this county.  The county looks like a man’s head looking northwest.  Dedham is in the north part of the county.  Quincy is in the North.  Dedham is the county seat and Quincy is the largest city.  Dedham is 3.5% of the county population while Quincy is 14.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Metropolitan Statistical Area.