Eight Districts Recommended Under New Representative Government-This Day in Norwood History-June 4, 1948

Next Step Is Submitting Plan To Special Town Meeting For Action

Committee Recommends Eight Districts for Norwood’s New Limited Town Government

A major step toward establishing Norwood’s new limited town government was taken last week when Ambrose J. Kelly, speaking on behalf of the Temporary Committee on Limited Town Government, presented a detailed set of recommendations to the Board of Selectmen. The proposal calls for dividing the town into eight voting districts, each represented by one town meeting member for every 72 registered voters, with no district exceeding 30 members, as required by the town charter.

Kelly appeared before the board with Town Engineer Albert W. Thompson to outline the committee’s reasoning and the boundaries of the proposed districts. He explained that several structural and legal considerations guided the committee’s work.

Why Eight Districts?

Kelly noted that dividing the town into only four precincts—a suggestion raised earlier—would violate the charter, which prohibits any district from having more than 30 town meeting members. Likewise, dividing the town strictly by precinct lines would create uneven voting strength and push some districts above the membership limit.

The committee therefore settled on eight districts, following natural boundary lines such as streets, railroad tracks, and town borders. The committee had previously determined that the new government should have 120 town meeting members, and the eight‑district plan would yield 115–117 members, falling within the intended range.

Proposed Districts

The committee’s recommended districts, completed after weeks of preliminary work, are as follows:

District 1 — “Dublin” Area

Bounded by the railroad tracks, Nahatan Street, Clapboardtree Street, and the Westwood line. 858 registered voters → 12 town meeting members This is the smallest district by population.

District 2

Bounded by Nahatan Street, Nichols Street, Winter Street, and the Westwood line. 1,253 registered voters

District 3

Bounded by Nahatan Street, the railroad tracks, Winter Street, and Nichols Street. 830 registered voters

District 4 — Junior High School Area

Bounded by the tracks, Winter Street, Walpole Street, and Chapel Street. 1,403 registered voters This is the largest of the eight districts.

District 5 — Senior High School Area

Bounded by the tracks, Walpole Street, the Westwood line, and Winter Street. 872 registered voters

District 6 — South Norwood

A naturally defined triangular area bounded by the two railroad tracks. 1,275 registered voters

District 7 — Lenox/Nahatan/Canton Line Area

Bounded by the tracks, Lenox Street, Nahatan Street to Neponset, and the Canton line. 929 registered voters This district contains the largest amount of vacant land and is considered the most likely area for future expansion.

District 8 — “Cork City”

Bounded by the tracks, Nahatan Street, and the Canton and Westwood lines. 959 registered voters

Next Steps Toward Limited Town Government

The temporary committee—consisting of Ambrose J. Kelly, John J. Coakley, Edmund F. Murphy, Arthur P. Allen, Judge Frank B. Coughlin, and Harold Shaw—has now completed its preliminary work. The next phase will be to submit the recommendations to a Special Town Meeting for formal action.

If approved, a new six‑member committee will be appointed to carry out the remaining details, culminating in district elections for the new town meeting members.

Selectmen Praise the Committee’s Work

Selectman Sture Nelson commended the committee for its “quick and efficient” handling of a complex and foundational task. With the district map now in hand, Norwood moves one step closer to implementing its new form of government—one designed to balance representation, preserve neighborhood identity, and ensure fair distribution of voting power across the town.

Norwood Messenger

Text and images may have been created, edited, colorized, or digitally restored using AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini. All content is reviewed for accuracy and historical integrity before publication by the Norwood Historical Society