One of the original counties of the Massachusetts Bay Colony created on May 10, 1643, was called Norfolk, and is unrelated to the current Norfolk County. It covered territory in what is now New Hampshire, and was abolished on September 18, 1679, when
King Charles II separated the
Colony of New Hampshire from Massachusetts. Shortly after the
Constitution of Massachusetts was adopted on October 25, 1780, a number of towns in
Suffolk County, of which Dedham was then a part, elected delegates to a convention to decide upon some policy relative to the division of the county. The convention met at
Gay's Tavern in Dedham on December 12, 1780, and adopted a resolution to the effect that the towns of
Bellingham,
Dedham,
Foxborough,
Franklin,
Medfield,
Medway,
Needham,
Stoughton,
Stoughtonham,
Walpole, and
Wrentham, along with the
Middlesex County towns of
Holliston,
Hopkinton,
Natick, and
Sherborn ought to be formed into a new county with Medfield as the shiretown. The
Great and General Court did not look favorably upon the resolution, however, and no new county was then created. Norfolk County, Massachusetts was created on June 20, 1793. Legislation passed in March which separated off all the towns in Suffolk County except Boston and Chelsea (which at the time included what are now
Revere and
Winthrop). Dedham was designated as the "shire town".
Hingham and
Hull petitioned to remain in Suffolk County and on the day the law was to take effect, their removal to Norfolk County was repealed, making
Cohasset an
exclave. In 1803, they were moved into
Plymouth County, Massachusetts.
Jails Following the creation of the county,
Gay's Tavern was the site of a Court of General Sessions on August 25, 1794. They ordered that the committee on buildings proceed with collecting materials for building a jail. On the last day of September following this order, the court accepted from Timothy Gay the gift of a parallelogram lot of land to erect the
Norfolk County Jail next to his tavern. It was replaced by a new
Norfolk County Jail in 1817. The two story stone building was built in 1817 and was 33' square. Part of the jail was torn down in 1851 to erect a central, octagonal portion and two wings. It resulted in a building with the shape of a
Latin cross, and featured
Gothic Revival windows. The three tiers of cells radiated out like spokes from the central guardroom. There were two hangings in the central rotunda:
George C. Hersey on August 8, 1862, and
James H. Costley on June 25, 1875. Inmates were housed in the jail until 1992 when the
Norfolk County Correctional Center was opened in 1992. A court forced the closure after 13 inmates escaped in 1989. There were at least 27 break outs during the prison's history. The current Norfolk County Correctional Center is located on the median of
Route 128 in Dedham. The facility has 502 beds and opened in 1992.
Courthouses After the creation of the county, the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of General Sessions of the Peace first met in
Dedham's meetinghouse.
Nathaniel Ames was chosen as the clerk of both and they met for the first time on September 23. When the court met on January 7, 1794, it was so cold in the building, which lacked any sort of heating, that they moved to the
Woodward Tavern across the street. The
Anglican Church in town had also offered their building, but it was in such a state of disrepair that the offer was not accepted. The
First Church and Parish in Dedham then offered a piece of land on their Little Common, and a new courthouse was ordered to be constructed. Construction was sluggish, however, and the delays frustrated Ames. The court was still sitting in the meetinghouse in 1794 but the new courthouse was completed in 1795. It was found to be too small, however, and the ceilings were so low as to stifle people in the courtrooms.
Charles Bulfinch was hired in 1795 to design a turret for the building and
Paul Revere was commissioned to cast a bell. When it became apparent that the Courthouse was out of date, the County Commissioners ordered a new one to be built. They originally were seeking a utilitarian building that would be fireproof and safe to store important documents. Local boosters, however, wanted a building that aligned with the town's rapidly improving self-image. The land for the courthouse, across the street from the existing one, was purchased from
Frances Ames for $1,200. Ames later refused to sell the lot to the east at an asking price of $400, however. Masonic ceremonies, bell ringing and cannon fire accompanied the laying of the cornerstone on July 4, 1825. In 1827, the old courthouse was sold at public auction. The new building was designed by
Solomon Willard and was dedicated on February 20, 1827. It was a basic rectangular granite-walled structure, 48' by 98' and two stories tall, with Greek-temple porticoes at either end. Each 10' portico was supported by four Doric pillars. A bell made by
Paul Revere was moved from the old courthouse to the new north portico, where it was tolled to announce court sessions. The interior had a hall running through the center paved with brick. On the eastern side were the offices of the Country Treasurer and the Clerk of Courts. On the western side were the Registry of Deeds and Probate Court. The courtroom was upstairs and featured an arched ceiling. The high sheriff had a desk in the room. From the outside it was an attractive building, but it was not a comfortable place to work. The only water was provided by a well on Court Street, and it did not have an adequate heating system. One employee complained that it was "barren and destitute of every convenience, demanded for health, comfort and decency." In 1846, an iron fence was installed around the perimeter.
Registry of Deeds The Registry was originally housed in one of the first floor rooms of the home of Eliphalet Pond, the first registrar, at 963 Washington Street in Dedham. A sign was nailed to a tree out front informing the public of its location. It then moved to the original
Norfolk County Courthouse and remained there for about three decades. When the new
Norfolk County Courthouse was built in 1827, the middle office on the west side of the lower level was used by the Registry. When the population of the county grew and the number of real estate transactions increased apace, a new building was constructed for the Registry across the street at 649 High Street. The Boston firm
Peabody & Stearns was hired to design the current Registry of Deeds, built in 1905. The main section of the building measures 52 feet by 186 feet, is two stories high with a copper hipped roof, and is built of Indiana limestone with details made of granite from
Deer Isle, Maine. ==Geography==