The author, Rev. Elias Nason, M.A., has compiled "a clear and concise topographical description, together with a brief historical and statistical notice, of the several counties, cities, towns, and villages of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." The book offers much more than that to a family historian, however. In addition to the typical physical description and history of each town, the author devotes much of his attention to the people of the area, including the native inhabitants and biographical sketches of the earliest white settlers and prominent citizens. Early businesses, churches, and schools are also described.

A separate section of general history describes the State as a whole, including its bays, harbors, capes, islands, rivers, mountains, lakes, and ponds.

Note: This book is also among the 10 volumes in our popular Compendium of New England Gazetteers, which is available at 66% OFF the regular retail price of the individual books if purchased separately.

Subsections focus on the climate, geology, soil, and productions. Industrial, mercantile, and cultural resources of the State are detailed, including railroads, telegraphs, manufactures and commerce, charitable and reformatory institutions, government, finances, military organizations, education, religion, literature, and the public press. A beautiful hand-colored map of the State is also included.



The CD includes high-quality images of every page as originally published (not just a transcript) and is fully searchable using Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 5 or later recommended) on any Windows, Macintosh, or Unix computer. The data on this CD is completely self-contained, and requires no installation.