Norfolk Then…
This photograph was taken about 1880 from the ledges on the Stoeckel property looking north to Haystack Mountain. By then the hills of Norfolk had been deforested by the iron industry and the trees cut down to make charcoal. We have a clear view of the landscape and the pastures of Haystack Mountain Farm. Shepard Road had yet to be laid out but would have intersected Greenwoods Road just past the first white house on the right. Beyond that, the steeple of the old Catholic Church peeks out among the trees, and the Methodist Church in the center of the photograph is now a private residence on North Street. Center Cemetery on Old Colony Road is visible in the left background.
—Ann Havemeyer