Welcome to the Suffolk County MA GenWeb

The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires". Suffolk initially contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth, and Hingham. The county was named after Suffolk, England, and means "southern folk."

In 1731, the extreme western portions of Suffolk County, (which included Uxbridge), were split off to become part of Worcester County. In 1793, most of the original Suffolk County except for Boston and Chelsea (which remained in Suffolk) split off and became Norfolk County. Revere was set off from Chelsea and incorporated in 1846 and Winthrop was set off from Revere and incorporated in 1852. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Boston annexed several adjacent towns including Hyde Park, Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Dorchester from Norfolk County and Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County, resulting in an enlargement of Suffolk County.

The County Seat is Boston. The County Government was abolished on July 1, 1999.