in 77T:‘ lii'07 ryi..±Hi r\ o A% Of - 7T> T' o TV J. ;,>• />• riA O n a N>1 j; v J 'ifwi KS " v B y n - :\o o *t /*\tji TT ‘O- O' ffA Ti i / n v A v i.V...lLi.iLajlbbiOAl^ilb O / l ? PUBLIC DOCUMENT . No. 50. ffiommortfacalilj of Massachusetts. Report of the Commissioners Topographical Survey AND Map of Massachusetts. F oe the Y e a r 1900. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 Post Office Sqoake. 1901. t COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT. B oston, Mass., Dec. 31, 1900. To the Honorable Senate and House o f Representatives o f the Common­ wealth of Massachusetts. The Commissioners on the Topographical Survey and Map of Massachusetts present the following report of the work executed under their direction during the year 1900 : — The permanent force employed by the commission during the past year consisted of: — Salary. One chief engineer,............................................................... $3,000 Two assistant engineers,......................................................3,050 One d ra u g h tsm a n ,.....................................................................1,500 One computer, . 900 One stenographer,....................................................................... 780 T otal,.....................................................................................$9,230 The expenditures from the regular appropriation ($20,- 000) were as follows : — Printing boundary atlases of 28 towns, . $7,595 28 Office work, principally preparation of town atlases, 8,763 21 Field work, su rv e y s, ..................................... 3,218 89 M iscellaneous,...........................................................419 81 T o tal,.............................................................$19,997 19 In addition to the above, a special appropriation of $1,500 was made for the perambulation of the State boundary lines, which was expended a s follows : — New Hampshire line, $457 58 Vermont line, . 382 94 Rhode Island line, . 321 95 Connecticut line, 336 42 Total,. $1,498 89 4 STATE TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. [Jan. T own B oundary S u r v ey . In order to use as much of the regular appropriation as possible for the arrangement and publication of the results of the several years’ work already accumulated, but one party of four men has been employed in the field during the past year. This party, at small expense, surveyed 43 miles of natural or water boundaries, revised the entire boundaries of 34 towns and completed the location of the corners of 2 additional towns. This field work will furnish the material required to complete the publication of all the atlases that can be printed the coming year from an appropriation eQual to that of last year. P ublication o f T own B oundary A tla ses. There are 353 cities and towns in the State. Town boundary atlases of 10 of these towns were printed previous to the beginning of the year, and during the year atlases of 28 cities or towns have been printed and 3 more are now in the hands of the printer, making a total of 31 for the year, or a total of 41 to date. As fast as printed, a portion of the edition is distributed, as provided by chapter 360 of the Acts of 1900, as follows: two copies to the city or town clerk for the use of the city or town officers ; one copy to each public library in the cityr or town ; one copy to the Secretary of the Commonwealth ; one copy to the State Library; one copy to the Commis­ sioner of Public Records; one copy to the Boston Public Library ; one copy to the United States Geological Survey ; ten copies for distribution by the Topographical Survey Commissioners. The remaining copies are held for sale at $2.50 per copy for paper covers, which is practically the cost of printing, and $5 per copy for those bound in half Russia. Atlases of the following cities and towns have been printed during the year : — Everett, Plympton, Rochester, Winthrop, Plymouth, Mattapoisett, Hanson, Winchester, Attleborough, 1901.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 50. 5 Taunton, Bourne, Kingston, Chelsea, Easton, Lakeville, Beverly, North Attleborough, Stoneham, Halifax, Revere, Marion, Duxbury, Norwell, Mansfield, Middleboi'ough, Bridgewater, Seekonk. Woburn, N ew Y ork B oundary L in e . Plans showing the result of the surveys to determine the boundary line between New York and Massachusetts, together with a full description of the line, were tiled with the Secretary of the Commonwealth on March 7, 1900, and a full report made to the Legislature on that date (see House Document No. 1100, of 1900). P erambulation o f S tate B ou n d a ries. Chapter 299 of the Acts of 1898 requires this commission to make a perambulation of the State boundary lines once in five years, beginning with 1900,—this work to be done so fiir as possible in co-operation with the officers of the adjoin­ ing States. The statute also provides that, if the officers of any adjoining State are required to perambulate their boun­ daries at any other time, the Topographical Survey Commis­ sioners can co-operate and make the perambulation at that time, rather than at the time which is prescribed by Massa­ chusetts. The laws of the State of New York reQuired a perambu­ lation of her boundary lines during the year 1899. In conjunction with the State engineer of New York, the per­ ambulation of the line between Massachusetts and New York was made in connection with the work of setting the monu­ ments on that line during that year, thus avoiding the expense of the perambulation during the year 1900. In order to secure the co-operation of the authorities of the adjoining States on the other lines, the following com­ munication was forwarded through His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts to the governors of New Hamp­ shire, Yermont, Khode Island and Connecticut: — 6 STATE TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. [-Jan. By chapter 299 of the Acts of 1898, the Commissioners on the Topographical Survey and Map of Massachusetts were directed to inspect during the year 1900 the monuments or other marks defining the location of the boundary lines of the Commonwealth, with a view to replacing any missing stones. This work is to be done in conjunction with the proper authorities of the other States. The work practically amounts to a perambulation. Will you kindly indicate the proper officials in your State who have charge of these matters, with whom our commissioners can com­ municate. The replies received indicated a desire on the part of the adjoining States to co-operate with Massachusetts in this work as soon as provision could be made under authority of law for carrying on the work. The State of Yew Hampshire, however, appointed two members of the Governor’s Council, Hon. Henry F. Green of Littleton and Hon. Harry M. Cheney of Nashua, to co­ operate with u s; and an arrangement was made with these commissioners to make a joint perambulation of the New Hampshire line, which was made by Mr. Hawley, an assist­ ant from this office, in company with Mr. Gile, the engineer who had been employed by New Hampshire on the survey of the line and in setting the monuments. The remainder of the State lines were perambulated by employees of this Board. In the report of the chief engineer is given a statement of this work, and tables have been pre­ pared giving a complete report of the condition of all the bounds of the State lines. From these tables it appears that a few monuments need to be reset. With the exception of the Connecticut line, all the State lines are in good condition, reQuiring only the resetting of a few bounds where they have been disturbed. The Connecticut line, however, has not been surveyed since it was originally laid out and marked, westerly from the Connecticut river in 1803 and easterly from the Connec­ ticut river in 182(1. The older portion of the line is in bad condition. The courses by which it was described were all magnetic, said to vary 5° west of true north according to the observations made at that time; but, on account of the 1901.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 50. continual change in variation of the needle and the crude method of observing then employed, it is not an easy matter to retrace the courses as given; moreover, the majority of the bounds marking the angles have been lost, leaving but 3 out of 14 which can be identified. There are 55 boundary points on the line between Con­ necticut and Massachusetts which reQuire to be marked, where there are now no bounds. There are also other promi­ nent commanding points on high ledges which should be marked, and several of the monuments now existing should be replaced by permanent bounds. A few straight lines could be substituted for the high- water lines on the easterly shore of Congamuck pond, to simplify the line, as was done in a similar instance on the Rhode Island line. This could be done without any material change in territory. The boundary westerly of the “ South- wick jog” might also be straightened slightly, and a few angles avoided. The easterly portion of the Connecticut line from the cor­ ner of Rhode Island to the Connecticut river will reQuire less attention, although the monuments are of a temporary char­ acter, and not in keeping with those adopted in the other lines of the Commonwealth. Until a survey of the entire line is made and the exact location of certain points deter­ mined, there is no way of knowing how far the present bounds are from the original line. Owing to the very poor condition of the Connecticut boundaries, the selectmen of the towns adjoining the line have expressed a desire to have it properly located and permanently marked, and this Board are of the opinion that the work should be done as soon as Connecticut is ready to co-operate in the undertaking.