This public map service contains points and polygons representing information from the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS) database and related records on file at the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC), including the Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth, National Register of Historic Places nomination forms, local historic district study reports, local landmark reports, and other materials. The MACRIS database and the layers within the MACRIS Maps web application are updated regularly as new information is submitted and added, and as the accuracy of earlier versions of the datalayer is improved.Three datalayers are being made available to the public:The Inventory Points layer contains the locations of buildings, burial grounds, structures, and objects (e.g. statues, monuments, walls). The points layer is symbolized to indicate the most common historic designation types: 1) National Register of Historic Places, 2) local historic district, 3) both National Register and local historic district, 4) Preservation Restriction, 5) Massachusetts Historic Landmark (MA/HL) and 6) inventoried but not designated with one of the previous designations. Less common designations are not symbolized in MACRIS, but are included in the Designations attribute field. The Inventory Areas polygon layer includes areas and districts symbolized in MACRIS in a similar manner to Inventory Points. Another polygon layer, Towns, possesses a binary “y” or blank field to indicate whether a town has a survey pending digitization. Please note that new and updated information is added to MHC files daily, and that there may be considerable lag time before this information is reflected in MACRIS or in MACRIS Maps. Map information for “completed” towns may not reflect the most current information on file with MHC. For additional information, users may consult the source records, forms and maps that make up the official Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth, on file at the MHC, Massachusetts Archives Building, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, during weekday business hours. No appointment is needed. For directions, see https://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/.See the metadata for more details. [MAPC metadata. LINKED. Source: MHC Publisher: MassGIS. Scale Limits: Min: 15000 (for points) Max: none]

This tile service is derived from a digital raster graphic of the historical 15-minute USGS topographic quadrangle maps of coastal towns in Massachusetts. These quadrangles were mosaicked together to create a single data layer of the coast of Massachusetts and a large portion of the southeastern area of the state.The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) obtained the map images from the Harvard Map Collection. The maps were produced in the late 1890s and early 20th century at a scale of 1:62,500 or 1:63,360 and are commonly known as 15-minute quadrangle maps because each map covers a four-sided area of 15 minutes of latitude and 15 minutes of longitude.

Background and Data Limitations The Massachusetts 1830 map series represents a unique data source that depicts land cover and cultural features during the historical period of widespread land clearing for agricultural. To our knowledge, Massachusetts is the only state in the US where detailed land cover information was comprehensively mapped at such an early date. As a result, these maps provide unusual insight into land cover and cultural patterns in 19th century New England. However, as with any historical data, the limitations and appropriate uses of these data must be recognized: (1) These maps were originally developed by many different surveyors across the state, with varying levels of effort and accuracy. (2) It is apparent that original mapping did not follow consistent surveying or drafting protocols; for instance, no consistent minimum mapping unit was identified or used by different surveyors; as a result, whereas some maps depict only large forest blocks, others also depict small wooded areas, suggesting that numerous smaller woodlands may have gone unmapped in many towns. Surveyors also were apparently not consistent in what they mapped as ‘woodlands’: comparison with independently collected tax valuation data from the same time period indicates substantial lack of consistency among towns in the relative amounts of ‘woodlands’, ‘unimproved’ lands, and ‘unimproveable’ lands that were mapped as ‘woodlands’ on the 1830 maps. In some instances, the lack of consistent mapping protocols resulted in substantially different patterns of forest cover being depicted on maps from adjoining towns that may in fact have had relatively similar forest patterns or in woodlands that ‘end’ at a town boundary. (3) The degree to which these maps represent approximations of ‘primary’ woodlands (i.e., areas that were never cleared for agriculture during the historical period, but were generally logged for wood products) varies considerably from town to town, depending on whether agricultural land clearing peaked prior to, during, or substantially after 1830. (4) Despite our efforts to accurately geo-reference and digitize these maps, a variety of additional sources of error were introduced in converting the mapped information to electronic data files (see detailed methods below). Thus, we urge considerable caution in interpreting these maps. Despite these limitations, the 1830 maps present an incredible wealth of information about land cover patterns and cultural features during the early 19th century, a period that continues to exert strong influence on the natural and cultural landscapes of the region. Acknowledgements Financial support for this project was provided by the BioMap Project of the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, the National Science Foundation, and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. This project is a contribution of the Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research Program.

Please see the Massachusetts Historical Commission website for more information about these datalayers.The MACRIS includes the Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth, National Register of Historic Places nomination forms, local historic district study reports, local landmark reports, and other materials.
The Inventory Points layer contains the locations of buildings, burial grounds, structures, and objects (e.g. statues, monuments, walls). The Inventory Areas polygon layer includes areas and districts. Towns possesses a binary “y” or blank field to indicate whether MHC staff has completed digitizing the entire inventory for a specific town.

The political boundary datalayer is a polygon representation of town boundaries created from arcs developed from survey coordinates extracted from the 68-volume Harbor and Lands Commission Town Boundary Atlas for the 351 communities (cities and towns) in Massachusetts. The Atlas was published in the early 1900's and is maintained by the Survey Section of Massachusetts Highway Department. For communities with a coastal boundary, MassGIS has collaborated with Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection to complete a 1:12000 scale coastline. The boundary for the coastline was defined as being the upland side of tidal flats and rocky inter-tidal zones. Note that the 351 communities are the official municipal names, not including "villages" or other sections of towns.This datalayer was created for the purposes of providing an up-to-date polygon version of the town boundaries for the 351 cities and towns of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The legislative intent for some boundaries could not be mapped. Boundaries where that is true are identified in the attribute information. This layer contains multi-part polygons, one for each municipality. The coastline on this layer has been generalized for small-scale cartography and faster display in web map services.See the layer metadata for details.

These shapefiles of lakes, streams, wetlands, river bottoms, and the Mississippi River represent the hydrological landscape of Minneapolis and St. Paul as recorded in the original public land survey conducted between 1848 and 1858. The hydrologic features were digitized from scanned, georeferenced 1:24000 maps during the 2017 Faculty Research Sprint held at the University of Minnesota.

The historic high water line in Provincetown (from the SBONE Historic High Water Line) are derived from maps provided to the town by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Waterways Program. For more information and to download these maps please visit the Town of Provincetown website. Line features are intended to assist with determinations of tidelands jurisdiction however, Chapter 91 jurisdiction cannot be precisely determined by using the dataset or the referenced maps and must be established by field inspection.

The CT Municipalities layer consists of individual polygons representing each of the 169 municipalities that make up the state of Connecticut. This feature class is based on the Towns layer originally created by CTDEEP from USGS maps. The towns from the CTDEEP data were dissolved to create 169 records (one for each town). Fields were added and deleted to create a generic schema.

The CT Municipalities feature class was created in (municipality) alphabetical order. Fields were added to identify the municipality number and the CTDOT Municipality number, which differ from each other in some cases. In 1947 the town of Saybrook officially changed its name to Deep River. Other State agencies and municipalities changed their numbering systems to reflect this name change, however, most of what is now CTDOT kept their existing numbering system. This is why the CTDOT town number for Deep River is 122, the number formerly assigned to Saybrook.

The square miles associated with each town are for their interior land mass area. Coastal communities have boundaries that extend into Long Island Sound. These town boundary extensions into Long Island Sound are not included in the square miles field.

CTDOT has created and will maintain a cartographic rendering of the geometric shape of Municipal boundaries. Official Town and City designations as incorporated areas consisting of an authorized governing body are managed by CT's Office of Policy and Management (OPM).

CTDOT has undertaken a good faith effort to represent the boundaries cartographically in a fair and equitable fashion, from the best available data compiled from existing state, regional, and local resources including - existing historical cartographic renderings of the boundary locations, supplemental survey information, and map submissions. Corrections can be submitted to the CTDOT for incorporation and correction where applicable.

Attribution was assigned to designations managed by a variety of entities that strictly follow Municipal boundaries and additional designations will be added as requested by State, regional, and local partners.

This collection of geo-referenced photos vary with regards to spatial accuracy and resolution. Use the hotlinks below to learn the details of each collection or review MassGIS's new story map explaining all the vintages of aerial photos. Tip: Reviewing that story map might be an easier way to digest the information rather than reviewing the more formal/standard metadata accessible via the hotlinks below.Within the web map certain layers will only be visible at particular zoom extents. If a layer is unavailable to turn on/off, then zoom in or out as needed until the layer becomes active.All photos, except year 1938, are captured during leaf-off (typically late winter/early spring). With the exception of the 1938 & 1990s collection, all photos are in true color. The 1938 & 1990s are in black and white. With regards to Dukes County (which includes the Islands of Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands) these are the applicable years of acquisition for those State-wide collections that span multiple years: "1990s collection" -- Only year 1999 for Dukes County"2001-2003 collection" -- Only year 2003 for Dukes County"2008-2009 collection" - Only year 2009 for Dukes County"2011-2012 collection" - Only year 2011 for Dukes County"2013-2014 collection" - Only year 2014 for Dukes CountyPhoto Details (Metadata)1938 Black & White Aerials (georeferenced & hosted by Harvard Forest)1990s Black & White Aerials2001-2003 Color Aerials2005 Color Aerials2008-2009 Color Aerials2011-2012 Color Aerials2013-2014 Color Aerials2015 Satellite Images - Extra Details2019 Color Aerials2021 Color Aerials2023 Color AerialsParcel Lines -- These data are NOT survey grade and are intended for general reference only. The parcel data comply with the MassGIS Level 3 parcel data standard. Each town in Dukes County hires a GIS Consultant to prepare their digital parcel lines and to link the properties to the respective records from the town's assessing database. The linkage is static and not updated in real-time - it is only 'as current' as the day the data was exported from the assessing database. The Martha's Vineyard Commission does not edit nor maintain any assessing data or parcel lines/property bounds. Each town within Dukes County updates their digital parcel data when they see fit (most, typically, update annually). Click on a specific town in this map to see when their parcel data was updated and by whom. Similarly, clicking on a parcel in this "MA Aerial Photos Since 1990s web map" will show you the applicable Fiscal Year the assessing info was exported.

This map service displays the year in which cities and towns in Massachusetts were first settled by Europeans. The data were gathered by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Sources include: 2010 Census Report; Community Profiles, Department of Housing and Community Development; Historic Atlas of Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts Press 1991.Data source: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/cis/historical/incorporation-settlement.htmFeature service also available.

Created by the Martha's Vineyard Commission after reviewing local zoning bylaws, speaking with town historic district committees, and reviewing State & National Registry of historic districts. Area boundaries are parcel based where zoning descriptions permitted clear property boundaries.

Level 3 Parcel Data Standard Compliant parcel boundaries for West Tisbury, MA. A 1-M relationship class exists from the parcels to the Assess table and from parcels to the Building table. The building table is an additional table (not part of the Level 3 Standard). Building info was provided by the Town assessor in late early 2020. The building table only provides info for one building on the parcel. Which building (i.e. oldest, newest, etc) is unknown. Use data with caution.

The points shown on the GIS map contain links to historical atlases and information regarding approximate position and enacted legislation for the corner.

Status layer to indicate whether MHC staff has completed digitizing the entire inventory for a specific town. The COMPLETE field stores a binary “y” or blank field to indicate the MHC municipal status. MassGIS stores and distributes this polygon feature class as MHCTOWNS_POLY.