Administrative Boundaries of Boston and Massachusetts

Guide to resources on wards, towns, counties, metropolitan areas etc.

Town Boundary

Atlas of the Boundaries of the City of Boston, Suffolk County and Town of Brookline, Norfolk County

Digitized by State Library of Massachusetts

Origins and Growth of Boston - describes land grants, boundaries and annexations

Annexed Towns

Boston annexed neighboring municipalities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

1868 - Roxbury
1870 - Dorchester (including Mattapan)
1874 - Brighton (including Allston), Charlestown, West Roxbury (including Jamaica Plain and Roslindale)
1912 - Hyde Park (including Readville)

Map of Boston, for 1875
Shows towns annexed to Boston since 1865, with a chart listing some statistics for the towns.
Map of Boston, for 1883
Outlines annexed towns and lists when town was established and annexed.
Books and maps on annexation in Boston

Boston's Annexed Towns and Some Neighborhood Resources
by John Devine Last Updated May 18, 2024 3505 views this year

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods are smaller geographic communities within which people and places are perceived as having shared social, historical, and cultural characteristics. While the city has official maps of neighborhoods, boundaries tend to be subjective. Neighborhoods do not have official or administrative purposes.

Boston area neighborhood consensus
Shows the areas that people think of as neighborhoods
Boston neighborhood maps
A comprehensive set of maps on the census geography (census tracts, block groups) of Boston and its neighborhood with clear delineation of census boundaries.
Official maps from the Boston Planning and Development Agency
Boston neighborhoods dataset from Boston Maps

Wards

Wards are administrative divisions within a city for purposes such as voting or public services. They do not correspond to neighborhoods.

Year	Boundary Descriptions	Map
1713	First report of the Record Commissioners, 1876
1715	First report of the Record Commissioners, 1876	1729 - Plan of Boston, reproduced 1869
1735	Boston Town Records, 1735	1743 - A new plan of ye great town of Boston in New England in America
1805	Report to the committee of the City Council, 1845	1816 - Map of Boston in the state of Massachusetts
1822	A catalogue of the city councils of Boston, 1822-1908	[1822–1825] - Plan of Boston 1826 - Plan of Boston comprising a part of Charlestown and Cambridge 1822 wards outlined by dotted lines. Coloring indicates proposed 1832 wards.
1838	A catalogue of the city councils of Boston, 1822-1908	1839 - A new & complete map of the city of Boston, with part of Charlestown, Cambridge & Roxbury
1850	A catalogue of the city councils of Boston, 1822-1908	1851 - Plan of Boston comprising a part of Charlestown and Cambridge 1852 - New map of Boston, comprising the whole city, with the new boundaries of the wards Wards outlined by dotted lines. Coloring and red numbers show fire districts.
1865	A catalogue of the city councils of Boston, 1822-1908	1867 - Plan of Boston
1868	Roxbury annexed and added as wards 13-15	1869 - Plan of Boston, with additions and corrections
1870	Dorchester annexed and added as ward 16	1872 - Map of Boston from the latest surveys
1873	Brighton, Charlestown, and West Roxbury annexed and added as wards 17-22	1874 - Map of the cities of Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Chelsea, and the town of Brookline with parts of Newton, Malden and Everett also shows wards of surrounding towns
1875	A catalogue of the city councils of Boston, 1822-1908	1875 - Map of Boston showing proposed new division of wards Oct. 1875 shows proposed wards; final wards differed slightly 1876 - Map of Boston 1876
1876	Municipal register, 1876 Ward 22 divided into wards 22 and 25	1882 - Map of Boston, for 1882
1885	Municipal register, 1886	1886 - Map of Boston showing new division of wards
1886	Municipal register, 1887 1885 ward divisions were ruled illegal and set aside. Wards reverted to 1875 boundaries	1887 - Map of the city of Boston and vicinity 1890 - Wards & Precincts, City of Boston
1895	Municipal register, 1896	1895 - Map of the city of Boston and vicinity 1896 - An outline map of Boston showing the old & new ward lines, also the old congressional lines
1912	Municipal register 1912 Hyde Park annexed and added as ward 26	1912 - Outline and index map of Ward 26
1914	Municipal register, 1914	1916 - Ward Lines and Voting Precincts Wards are outlined in the index map in urban atlases of neighborhoods. Wards are differentiated by color and labeled with a black number. Wards 1-4 [Charlestown and East Boston] Wards 5-8, parts of 12-13 [Boston proper] Wards 9-11 [South Boston] Wards 12-16, parts of 7-9, 17-19, 25 [Roxbury] Wards 17-21, parts of 11, 12, 24 [Dorchester] Wards 22-23 [West Roxbury] Wards 25-26 [Brighton]
1924	Municipal register, 1925	1927 - Boston and surroundings 1928 - Map of the city of Boston Massachusetts
Later		1945 - [Ward Lines and Voting Precincts] 1954 - [Ward Lines and Voting Precincts] 1959 - Ward Boundaries 1975? - Wards & precincts 1995 - Wards and precincts
Current		Boston Planning and Development Agency website

Datasets

Precincts

Precincts

Precincts are smaller administrative divisions within wards. Precinct boundaries changed more often than ward boundaries and were changed in sections rather than city-wide.

Maps

Text Descriptions

Municipal Register - precinct descriptions from 1879 to 1918. Use index at back to look up Precincts, boundaries of or Wards, precinct lines
Boston Street Lists (various 1880-1976) - lists wards and precincts of streets
Report of Special Committee on New Division of the Wards of the City Into Voting Precincts, as Amended and Passed 1889

Datasets

Precincts from Boston Maps