City address field guide

Boston Address History

Trace people and places in Boston, Massachusetts by building a dated address timeline from directories, maps, property records, newspapers and local collections.

Build the address timeline

Illustration of an imaginary city block and map changing across several decades — Illustration · An invented block and map, not a real Boston address

Address timeline

Separate the building from the people.

An owner, occupant, tenant, business, mailing address and household are different facts. Give each one its own row and source.

Normalize the address as written

Preserve old street names, directionals, apartment or ward details.

Locate the historical jurisdiction

Check annexation, county, ward, precinct and renumbering changes.

Browse consecutive directories

A year-by-year run can reveal moves, vacancies and renumbering.

Cross-check ownership and occupancy

Compare deeds, tax rolls, censuses, maps, newspapers or permits.

Illustration of an archive card catalog surrounded by fictional silhouette portraits — Illustration · Fictional residents and a catalog, not people tied to an address

Local source weave

Use one source to choose the next.

Source	Useful for	Watch for
City directory	Occupants, businesses, occupations, street index	Publication lag and abbreviations
Historical map	Building footprint, street name, ward, land use	Edition date and later overlays
Deed or tax roll	Owner, legal parcel, transfer or assessment	Ownership is not always occupancy
Newspaper	Advertisements, notices, events and community context	OCR errors and reported claims

Boundary caution

Boston may not mean the same boundary in every year.

Confirm whether the record used a city, township, borough, ward, district, county or postal place. Save a period map or directory preface with the research log.