A man with longtime connections to the Norfield community in Lincoln County will be the speaker at the Lincoln County Historical and Genealogical Society’s program Thursday night.

Joseph Garland Brown will talk about the economic importance Norfield held for the county.

“At one time, Norfield was the second largest town in Lincoln County with the primary industry being the logging and processing of timber,” Brown said. “I will give a few details on how the sawmill town operated from the late 1800s to the 1930s.”

Brown still lives in the Norfield area, which is located south of Bogue Chitto. His family has lived and worked in that community for nine generations, dating well before Norfield was incorporated in 1894.

He is a retired engineer with International Paper. He attended Brookhaven High School, Copiah-Lincoln Community College and Mississippi State University.

Norfield was named for two businessmen who bought the land and built the sawmill, John Spencer Butterfield and Fred W. Norwood, said LCHGS President Cathy Bridge. The sawmill included a a train operation named the Natchez, Columbia and Mobile Railroad.

The history program will be Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Jimmy Furlow Center. It is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring pictures or other Norfield-related objects to the meeting for show and tell, Bridge said.

Refreshments will follow the presentation.