Photograph Courtesy Norfolk Historical Society

Look closely at the houses in this 1890’s photograph to see if you recognize any. The view is from the Battell-Stoeckel property just west of Greenwoods Road looking north to Haystack Mountain. By 1890 the hills of Norfolk had been deforested by the iron industry and the trees cut down to make charcoal. So we have a clear view of the landscape. 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 clearly visible in the left background.

Ann Havemeyer