Map of the Town of Boston 1648; Drawn by Samuel C. Clough, in Accordance with Information Compiled from the Records of the Colony ...
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Completed on 10 April 1919, this map by Samuel Chester Clough (1873-1949) shows property owners and land lots in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1648. This map informs his later maps of 1676 and 1798, as well as his atlas. An inscription on this map lists Clough's sources: "Drawn by Samuel C. Clough in accordance with information complied from the records of the Colony, Town, Registry of Deeds, Suffolk Probate, and Supreme Court; Book of Possessions, Winthrop Journal, Lechford Note Book, Aspinwall's Notes and City Surveys."
The map shows a densely populated Shawmut peninsula, especially the area around present-day State Street, Government Center, and Faneuil Hall. The hills, fields, and marshland all but disappear over the next century as the land was divided, sold, made, and developed. The map hints that the North End was practically an island, with a tidal creek connecting the Mill Cove to the Great Cove.
Clough also created a map of Boston in 1676 (please see the online display of Map of the Town of Boston, 1676), an atlas of Boston neighborhoods in 1798 (please see the online display of atlas of Boston neighborhoods in 1798), and a series of plate maps for 1798.
Clough was a draftsman for Boston Edison Company and worked for the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown. This map forms a part of the Samuel Chester Clough research materials toward a topographical history of Boston, a manuscript collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Please see the online finding aid for the Clough research materials.