Massachusetts
Statehood: 6 Feb 1788
6th state of the United States
Bordering states:
North: New Hampshire, Vermont
South: Connecticut, Rhode Island
West: New York
Capital and largest city: Boston
Map: Massachusetts, 1796 (click map to enlarge), Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
Counties: Original counties as listed in the 1780 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part of the Second, Chapter 1 Sect. 2, The Senate, Article 1: Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Cumberland, Dukes, Essex, Hampshire, Lincoln, Middlesex, Nantucket, Plymouth, Suffolk, Worcester, and York. Massachusetts County Creation Dates and Parent Counties.
Counties in 2020: 14.
Personal Library
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Also available online
Middlesex County
Medford
Also available online.
Norfolk County
Wellesley
Also available online
Newspapers
Newspapers Archive: Massachusetts
Chronicling America, digitized: Massachusetts
Community History Archive Newspapers: Massachusetts
Small Town Newspapers
(Scroll to Massachusetts)
Barnstable Patriot, 1830 to 2017
Sturgis Libary
Cambridge Chronicle, 1846-2019
Cambridge Public Library
Maps
Massachusetts Maps, Library of Congress
Massachusetts Landowner Maps, Library of Congress
Interactive Map of Massachusetts County Formation History, Maps of U.S.
Historical Maps Works: Massachusetts
Additional websites
Record Sets-State Level
Massachusetts Record Sets
(Ancestry Collections)
Massachusetts Record Sets (Family Search)
Vital Records
Vital Records 1841-1925, Digital Records at the Massachusetts Archives
Massachusetts Delayed and Corrected Vital Records, 1753-1920 (Family Search)
Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 (Ancestry)
Massachusetts, U.S., Death Index, 1901-1980
Ancestry
Massachusetts, Death Index, 1970-2003, Ancestry
Land Records and Deeds
Massachusetts Land Records,
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Virtual Libraries
Chris Steele and Ronald Polito, A Directory of Massachusetts Photographers, 1839-1900, Online Edition (Boston, Massachusetts : 2018).
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
A History of New England, Containing Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Counties, Cities and Principal Towns of the Six New England States, vol. 1, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Rev. R. H. Howard, A.M. and Prof. Henry E. Crocker, 1880.
The History of the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, From the Charter of King William and Queen Mary, in 1691, Until the Year 1750, Thomas Hutchinson, 1767.
The History of Massachusetts, From the Landing of the Pilgrims to the Present Time, George Lowell Austin, 1884.
The History of Massachusetts the Colonial Period, John Stetson Barry, 1855.
Three Episodes of Massachusetts, vol. 2, Charles Francis Adamas, 1892.
Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, Gardner Weld Allen, 1927.
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Office of the Sectetary of State, 1896.
Institutions, Societies, and Government Websites
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1780 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Early Vital Records of Massachusetts
From 1600 to 1850
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Digital Records at the Massachusetts Archives
Massachusetts Historical Society
Norfolk County
Weymouth
Weymouth Historic and Digital Collections
Suffolk County
Boston
City of Boston, Resources for Boston Records
Manuscripts
Massachusetts Manuscripts, Archive Grid
Massachusetts Manuscripts, Library of Congress