Norton Furnace, Massachusetts

Norton Furnace is a ghost town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States.[1] The settlement was located approximately 2 mi (3.2 km) south of Norton.

Norton Furnace, Massachusetts
Ghost town
Nickname(s): 
Copperworks Mills, Norton Village
Norton Furnace is located in Massachusetts
Norton Furnace
Norton Furnace
Norton Furnace is located in the United States
Norton Furnace
Norton Furnace
Coordinates: 41°56′19″N 71°09′34″W
CountryUnited States
StateMassachusetts
CountyBristol
Elevation
66 ft (20 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
GNIS feature ID606288[1]

The general area where Norton Furnace was located, between Norton, Massachusetts and Oakland, Massachusetts, is today known as Meadowbrook (at Meadow Brook Pond[2]).[3]

History

A furnace for manufacturing iron was established here in 1825 by Annes A. Lincoln, Jr. By 1837, it employed 25 people.[3][4]

The early settlement was known as "Norton Furnace", "Copperworks Village", and "Norton Mills".[4][5]

By 1850, the settlement had 25 houses and a store.[4]

Two companies located there—Norton Copper Works, and the Norton Furnace Company—remained active until the 1890s, after which the Norton Copper Works moved to Worcester and the Norton Furnace Company moved to near Boston.[6][7]

A branch of the Old Colony Railroad ran through the settlement, and by 1871 a station was located there.[5][8]

A post office was located there as early as 1899.[6] The Meadowbrook post office was located there from 1902 to 1912.[9]

See also

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Norton Furnace (historical)
    • "Meadowbrook Pond Dam in Bristol County, MA". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
    • "Town Tour". Norton Historical Society. August 19, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2023. The Meadowbrook Railroad Station was on Route 140 across from Meadowbrook Pond on the Taunton/Attleboro railroad line. In 1900 this area was called Norton Furnace. Meadowbrook had a post office at that time. Mrs. Lydia Lincoln Austin was the station agent as well as the postmaster. Notice the framed device built on the roof which extends out. A mail pouch would be fastened to the frame and be picked up by a catcher arm on a passing train. The railroad through Meadowbrook was built in the 1860's.
    • "meadow-brook-pond-norton". hookandbullet.com. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
    • "Meadow Brook Pond". Fishbrain. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  3. Yelle, Joseph E. (1979). The Devil's Footprints and Other Sketches of Old Norton. Norton Historical Commission. pp. 34, 35.
  4. "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Norton" (PDF). Massachusetts Historical Commission. 1981.
  5. Nason, Elias (1890). A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts. B.B. Russell. p. 519.
  6. "Our County and Its People: A Descriptive and Biographical Record of Bristol County, Massachusetts". The Boston History Company. 1899.
  7. Ritchie, Duncan (January 2015). "Intensive (Locational) Archaeological Survey: Water Pollution Control Facility, Pine Street Site, Norton, Massachusetts" (PDF). Public Archaeology Laboratory.
  8. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Norton Furnace Station (historical)
  9. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Meadowbrook Post Office (historical)
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