Loading map...

1903 Map of Boston

Name: 1903 Topographic Map of Boston
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1942
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1942

About this map

Greater Boston and its surrounding townships appear here at the transition into the twentieth century, during a period of significant urban consolidation and park development. The harbor is dominated by the Navy Yard and Ft. Winthrop, while the interior landscape reflects the emergence of the Emerald Necklace through the Arnold Arboretum. To the north, the protected wilderness of Middlesex Fells stands in contrast to the dense industrial and residential growth in Chelsea and Everett.

Geographic patterns of early suburbanization are visible along the rail corridors of the Boston and Maine R.R. and the Boston and Albany R.R., linking settlements like Winchester and Melrose to the urban core. Academic and institutional footprints are well-established, noted by Tufts College and the Marine Hospital. The intricate shoreline of Old Harbor and Dorchester Bay includes the Calf Pasture, highlighting the city's complex relationship with its waterfront before later twentieth-century land reclamation projects.