Boston Vicinity Survey, 1819

Each dwelling on this map is drawn individually, and some are labeled with the names of their occupants. John Groves Hales surveyed Boston and its surrounding towns at a moment when the city was still compact on the Shawmut Peninsula, years before any landfill projects began. The hachure shading gives the hills real dimension. Dorchester Heights, Breed's Hill, and the drumlins of the harbor islands all cast shadows across the page.

  • The individual houses. Hales labeled the owners' names beside them.
  • The color boundaries mark town lines, not wards. The border between Roxbury and Dorchester is clearly delineated.
  • The harbor islands; hachured hills are drawn on each one.

All prints are high-quality reproductions made from museum-grade scans at 300 DPI. Depending on the original scan dimensions, some prints may include white fill along the edges.

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