Massachusetts Local History
Massachusetts Counties
[ Map of MA Counties ]
Note:  The towns of each county are listed under the county name.  If town name is highlighted it links to the official town site which often include information about the town's history in addition to reporting addresses for the town's contacts for vital records, deeds, etc., so they are often quite good sites to begin researching both history and genealogy.
[ Barnstable ]  [ Berkshire ]  [ Bristol ]  [ Dukes ]  [ Essex ]
[ Franklin ]  [ Hampden]  [ Hampshire ]  [ Middlesex ]
[ Nantucket ]  [ Norfolk ]  [ Plymouth ]  [ Suffolk ]  [ Worcester ]

[Massachusetts Local History main page]
[Research by County]  [Find a Town's County Location ]
[Research by Catagory]  [Massachusetts Eras]
[Massachusetts Statewide Resources]
click here to visit official website for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
"Name and boundary changes of cities and towns of Massachusetts", by John Chandler, on Edward A. Cooper's, Cape Cod Genealogy web site, may be helpful to your research!

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Land Ownership
Barnstable County
The Barnstable County seat is in Barnstable.  Communities in Barnstable County include: Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Centerville, Chatham, East Falmouth, East Sandwich, Eastham, Falmouth, Forestdale, Harwich, Hyannis,  Marstons Mills, Mashpee,  North Eastham,  North Falmouth, Orleans, Osterville, Provincetown, Sandwich, South Dennis,  South Yarmouth, Teaticket,  Truro,  Wellfleet, West Barnstable, West Dennis, and West Yarmouth
Bristol County
The County seat for Bristol County is Tauton.  Communities in Bristol County include:
Acushnet, Attleboro, Berkley, Dighton, East Freetown, East Taunton, Fairhaven, Fall River, New Bedford, North Attleborough, North Dartmouth, North Dighton, North Easton, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, South Attleboro, South Dartmouth, South Easton, Swansea, Taunton, Westport
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Dukes County
The County seat for Dukes County is Edgartown.  Cities and Towns include:
                   Chilmark, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven, Tisbury, West Tisbury, Aquinnah, Gosnold
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Essex County
The County seat for Essex County is Salem.  Cities and towns include:
           Amesbury, Andover, Beverly, Boxford, Byfield, Danvers, Essex, Georgetown, Gloucester, Groveland, Hathorne, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lawrence, Lynn, Lynnfield, Manchester, Marblehead, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Saugus, South Hamilton, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham, West Newbury.
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Franklin County
The County seat for Franklin County is Greenfield.  Cities and Towns include:   Ashfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain,  Conway, Gill, Greenfield, Leverett, Leyden, Millers Falls, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Rowe, Shelburne Falls, Shutesbury, South Deerfield, Sunderland, Turners Falls, Warwick, Whately.
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Hampshire County
The County seat for Hampshire County is Northampton.  Cities and towns include:
                  Amherst, Belchertown, Blandford,  Chester, Chesterfield, Easthampton, Florence, Goshen, Granby, Hadley, Hatfield, Huntington,  Leeds, Northampton, Pelham, Russell, South Hadley, Southampton, Ware, Westhampton, Williamsburg, Worthington.
Middlesex County
The County seat for Middlesex County is Cambridge.
Cities and towns include:
(Those towns that are highlighted & underlined link to the official online town site.  For other historical links for these towns and Middlesex county, scroll down below this list.)
  •            Acton, Arlington, Ashby, Ashland, Auburndale, Ayer, Bedford, Belmont, Billerica, Boxborough, Burlington, Cambridge, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, East Pepperell, Everett, Framingham, Groton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Lowell, Malden, Marlborough, Maynard, Medford, Melrose, Natick, Newton, Newton Centre, Newton Highland, Newtonville, North Billerica, North Chelmsford, North Reading, Pepperell, Reading, Sherborn, Shirley, Somerville, Stoneham, Stow, Sudbury, Tewksbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Waban, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, West Newton, Westford, Weston, Wilmington, Winchester, Woburn.
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    Plymouth County
    The county seat for Plymouth County is Plymouth.  Cities and towns include:
                      Abington, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Lakeville, Marion, Marshfield, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Norwell, Onset, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Rochester, Scituate, Wareham, West Bridgewater, Whitman.
    Suffolk County
    The county seat for Suffolk County is Boston.  Cities and towns include:
                      Allston, Boston, Brighton, Charlestown, Chelsea, Dorchester, East Boston, Grove Hall, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Revere, Roslindale, Roxbury, South Boston, West Roxbury, Winthrop.
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     In 1731, Central Massachusetts Nipmuck County became Worcester County.
     The county seat for Worcester County is Worcester.  Cities and towns include:
                      Ashburnham, Athol, Auburn, Baldwinville, Barre, Berlin, Blackstone, Bolton, Boylston, Brookfield, Charlton, Dudley, East Brookfield, East Douglas, East Templeton, Fitchburg, Gardner, Gilbertville, Harvard, Holden, Hopedale, Hubbardston, Lancaster, Leicester, Leominster, Lunenburg, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, New Braintree, North Brookfield, North Grafton, Northborough, Oakham, Oxford, Paxton, Petersham, Phillipston, Princeton, Royalston, Rutland, Shrewsbury, South Grafton, South Royalston, Southborough, Southbridge, Spencer, Sterling Jct, Sturbridge, Sutton, Templeton, Upton, Uxbridge, Warren, Webster, Westborough, West Brookfield, Westminster, Whitinsville, Winchendon, Worcester.