Massachusetts
Norfolk Downs
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Norfolk Downs, Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Norfolk Downs is a suburb of Quincy.
Location: 42º16´20"N 71º1´15"W
 After finding a mention of 'Norfolk Downs' in Massachusetts on the Internet, we finally made contact with The Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy. Our thanks to Mary Clark at the library for providing the following information in newspaper cuttings...
Right: Extract from The Patriot Ledger Newspaper dated Nov. 30th 1928..
Strange to think, here we are 75 years later, asking the same question! And now we can tell you the story of Norfolk Downs....
In 1890 the town of Quincy, south of Boston was expanding.
The firm of Wood, Harmon and Co. had started developing the old Indian lands north of Quincy. Wollaston Park was the first real estate project in 1890. By 1892 they were ready to expand north, and as a way of advertising the new development offered a prize of a house lot for whoever came up with a suitable name for the new project.
Older residents in the area wanted it to be called 'Massachusetts Fields' - its old name from colonial times, but the developers wanted a new name.
Miss Louise Murdock, a schoolteacher, suggested 'Norfolk Downs' in remembrance of the low hills of the old country. The name was accepted and she was presented with the deeds for the $1,000 lot.
 Sketch of Norfolk Downs Railway Station
from the Quincy Daily Ledger - April 16th 1892
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