Author: James Collins Jr.

Author: Richard Haas

Author: Mary Miss,DD 21929

Author: Jay Wickersham

Author: Bob Schaeffner

Author: Stefanie Greenfield

Author: Stefanie Greenfield

Surveyed by the civil engineer John G. Hales, it is considered to be one of the most accurate maps of the 19th century expansion era, the first to show a comprehensive list of buildings. Different shadings were used to indicate the material from which a building was constructed. It shows property lines, data that, when coupled with those about buildings, provide invaluable information about Federal-period Boston. The map covers the Shawmut peninsula and includes an inset of Boston Neck.

Shows city wards and lines, some buildings, and radial distances from City Hall. Relief shown by contours.From: The Cambridge directory, 1895. Oriented with north toward the upper left. On verso: advertisements.

Using conventional cartographic techniques and orientation, the artist views Cambridge from the south southwest as if he hovers above Brighton looking north across the Charles River. His presentation includes all of Cambridge, encompassing its several neighborhoods and their varied functions. The original village center focusing on Harvard Square and Harvard University is positioned just right of center, while Cambridgeport with its numerous commercial activities clustered around Central Square is placed left of center. Meanwhile, East Cambridge with its industrial activities is located in the upper right hand corner of the drawing. An extensive directory lists 132 references. Thirty-two of these, representing the city hall, the county court house, and the churches, are numbered and located on the view. However, the remaining entries, recording an extensive number of commercial and industrial establishments, are not keyed to the view although their addresses are indicated. Interestingly, this view was not a comprehensive listing of industrial activity. The several brick yards prominently displayed on the left side of the view are not enumerated, nor is the city's largest employer, the New England Glass Company, which is distinctly depicted in the upper right hand corner north of the Boston and Lowell Railroad. During its short existence in the 1870s, the Franklin View Company produced only two urban views this one and an 1873 view of Gloucester. Their style was noticeably different from the typical bird's eye view. They combined elements of a conventional map with the currently popular bird's eye view, in that the street pattern was replicated with little distortion, while the buildings were shown in three dimensions and the horizon displayed a high oblique perspective.

The map prepared by the local committee for the use of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It includes key to buildings in and about College Yard and a list of Harvard buildings more than a century old, and other places of interest in Cambridge.

Captain John Bonner's map of Boston, created before the city's coastline was altered by landfill, combines plan and perspective views to depict settlement patterns and the city's thriving maritime economy. The shipping in the harbor is meticulously illustrated, while the topography is simplified. The map also highlights areas where Native American artifacts were discovered, showcasing the history of the land before European settlement in 1630. This map includes a list of buildings with the year of their construction, a list of fires in the city from 1653 to 1711 and a list of occurrences of smallpox.

Considered to be one of the best visual records of pre-Revolutionary Boston, this map is an updated version of the map first published by John Bonner in 1722. After his death in 1726, his partner William Price assumed sole ownership of the Boston Plan, to which he added a decorative cartouche, and numerous streets in the south and west and along Boston Neck. Like the original one from 1722, this map includes a list of buildings with the year of their construction, a list of fires in the city from 1653 to 1711 and a list of occurrences of smallpox.

The Centennial Map of Concord, created by H.W. Blaisdell in 1875, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Concord, a pivotal event in the American Revolutionary War. This detailed map distinguishes between buildings and structures that existed in 1775 and those present in 1875. It also shows the route of the centennial procession held on April 19, 1875.The map provides valuable historical insights by naming landowners and highlighting the locations of significant structures from both periods. Relief is shown by hachures, adding a topographical element to the map.

Aerial Photo of the Commons with Foley Square behind

Sites after 1900 that are located along the tour route are overlaid on the current GIS map.

This map illustrates some of the historic places situated along the route of the Commons Tour overlaid on the Ratzer map of 1767.