|
|
The Town of Norwell Massachusetts
is an affluent suburban community in Plymouth County which still retains
some of its past rural character. Bounded by the North River, Norwell attracted
settlers for its agricultural land and its water power potential. Colonists
built grist and sawmills on the river as well as boatyards, and shipbuilding
was a major industry in Norwell until the draft of boats being built outstripped
the depth of the river. Poultry farming became the largest business in
town and flourished until a virus killed off the flocks, wiping out many
of the producers. The farmers had to sell off their land to developers,
triggering a period of residential development and growth for the town.
The end of the Second World War brought
the G.I. Bill which provided low-interest loans for veterans and created
a building boom that almost doubled the town's population between 1950
and 1955. This brought people with a diversity of backgrounds to what had
been a homogeneous English and Scottish town.
The new immigrants, unlike those
which came to other area towns for mill jobs in the 19th century, are generally
executives in the companies which occupy surrounding office parks. Norwell
now has a suburban residential character which residents feel has not detracted
from its charm as a small, friendly, rural town.
Norwell Mass is located in Eastern
Massachusetts, bordered by Hanover and Rockland on the west, Pembroke on
the south, Marshfield and Scituate on the east and northeast, and Hingham
on the north. Norwell is about 14 miles east of Brockton, 17 miles north
of Plymouth, 20 miles south of Boston, and 222 miles from New York City. |