Needham Community Education

Port Norfolk was a competing port to Boston in the 1800s. Hear how it was the center of manufacturing to supply Boston's building boom in the late 1800s with nails (for horses and housing), lumber, and other manufactured products. Companies such as Stearns Lumber and Putnam Nail occupied Port Norfolk for many decades. The port was also the site of the George P. Lawley shipyard - here subchasers (hunters of German U-boats) were built for service during the latter half of WWI. The Lawley shipyard was also known for designing and fabricating beautiful yachts of all configurations and sizes as there was a yachting craze in Boston during the late 1880s. A number of buildings still remain and we'll discuss the past and present uses of the structures. We explore the Neponset Trail and make our way to Joseph Finnegan Park and the mouth of the Neponset River.