Interior House Painter Norwell MA

Norwell, Massachusetts
Town
Jacobs Farmhouse, Norwell Historical Society
Seal
Location in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°09′42″N 70°47′40″W / 42.16167°N 70.79444°W / 42.16167; -70.79444Coordinates: 42°09′42″N 70°47′40″W / 42.16167°N 70.79444°W / 42.16167; -70.79444
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Plymouth
Settled	1634
Incorporated	February 14, 1849
Government
• Type	Open town meeting
• Town    Administrator	Peter Morin
• Board of    Selectmen	Ellen Allen, Chair; Jason Brown, Vice Chair; Alison Demong, Clerk; Joseph Rull; Bruce Graham
Area
• Total	21.2 sq mi (54.8 km2)
• Land	20.9 sq mi (54.1 km)
• Water	0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2)
Elevation	81 ft (25 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	11,351
• Density	540/sq mi (210/km)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern)
ZIP Code	02061
Area code	339/781
FIPS code	25-50145
GNIS feature ID	0618347
Website	www.townofnorwell.net

Norwell is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,351 at the 2020 United States census. The town’s southeastern border runs along the North River.

History

Norwell was first settled in 1634 as a part of the settlement of Satuit (later Scituate), which encompassed present-day Scituate and Norwell. It was officially created in 1849 and soon became known as South Scituate. The town changed its name by ballot to Norwell in 1888, after Henry Norwell, a dry goods merchant who provided funds for the maintenance of the town roads. Early settlers were attracted to Norwell for agricultural reasons, with the town later developing a major shipbuilding industry, based on the North and Northwest rivers. Shipbuilding was a major industry in the 18th through the early 19th centuries. Some of the finest frigates, schooners, whalers, and merchant vessels were produced in Norwell. The Norwell Village Area Historic District is in the center of the town.

Today, Norwell is an affluent residential community with over 10,000 residents that has modern schools, shopping, churches, libraries, health facilities, a wildlife preserve, and other support facilities as well as three industrial parks.

Transportation

Massachusetts Route 3 passes through the town twice, across the southern portion of the town and another short portion near the west of the town. There are no exits in the town off this freeway, but there are exits, 13 and 14, in the interim space between the two portions and just north of the second portion. Both exits access routes which immediately enter the town. The major route through the town is Route 123, which passes from east to west through the town, just before its end at Route 3A in neighboring Scituate. Routes 53 and 228 also pass through the town, with Route 228 ending just over the town line in Rockland at its intersection with Route 3.

Norwell has no rail or air service within the town. The nearest rail service is the Greenbush line of the MBTA’s commuter rail in neighboring Scituate, just one mile from the Norwell town line. The nearest regional airport is Marshfield Municipal Airport; the nearest national and international service can be reached at Logan International Airport in Boston.

Norwell began construction of their “pathways” in the summer of 2015. These mixed use pedestrian and cycling paths were designed to connect the high school, middle school, and the town center. The pathways were intended, according to the former town planner, to allow residents and students to travel without walking on the side of Norwell’s busiest roads. “Pathway” planning in Norwell has not been without controversy between town boards and residents. Ironically, Norwell after a successful ten-taxpayer lawsuit that prohibited the use of Community Preservation funds from building what one town official called, instead of a sidewalk, a “pathwalk,” along Norwell’s busiest road (Route 123) only 600′ parallel north of the pathway, voters regardlessly approved the necessary appropriations to build a portion of it. The pathway stretches from South Street to the town center near the state police barracks. Today. Norwell residents have the choice of walking along the preferred, beautifully serene and forested pathway or the less frequented, traditional sidewalk along Main Street. Main Street remains the only road in the town for which taxpayers have provided funding for both a pathway on one side and a sidewalk on the other for the convenience, safety, and enjoyment of its users.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 21.2 square miles (55 km), of which 20.9 square miles (54 km²) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km), or 1.37%, is water. Some 30% to 38% of the town is wetlands. Located on the South Shore of Massachusetts, Norwell is 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 (23 km) east of Brockton, 17 miles (27 km) north of Plymouth and 20 miles (32 km) south of Boston.

Much of Norwell’s eastern border lies along the North River, where many shipbuilding companies once stood. There are many other brooks and ponds throughout the town, including Third Herring Brook, which constitutes much of the town’s border with Hanover, Accord Pond at the junction of Norwell, Rockland and Hingham, and Jacobs Pond, along Route 123. The northern half of the town is hilly, and the southern end of Wompatuck State Park juts into the town.