1722 Bonner Map of Boston

This is the map that I really wanted to see in Google Earth, the earliest complete map of Boston, created by Capt. John Bonner in 1722. It shows all the original shoreline before any major landfills had begun and the population was a mere 10,000.

Lining this up with the current street layout is just about impossible because of slight errors in the original map itself, but it is still pretty close. The old burial ground near the Boston Common is plainly visible, as is the original town dock (now Dock Square in the middle of the city in front of Faneuil Hall.)

A larger version of this image is available here.

If you would like to explore this map, the layer can be downloaded using this KML file: bonner.kml. The underlying map image is pretty large, about 1.5 megs so it may take a few seconds to fully load into the application. Click on the “3D Buildings” option to see the topographical changes stand out more sharply. Use the navigation in the upper right-hand corner to change the angle and otherwise move through the map.

Old Maps in Google Earth

I was happy to read Google’s recent announcement that they were including a collection of antique maps as part of the standard Google Earth package. My only disappointment was that the city of Boston was not included in this first set of maps. It would have made a good candidate for inclusion since the city has gone through such a dramatic transformation during the past 350 years, with large sections of it having been built on filled-in land.

What I didn’t realize until I started playing with Google Earth a bit more is that any image at all can be included as a layer. I tried this out with a map of Boston from 1839 that I had scanned in from a period almanac. With a little bit of work I was able to line up the old street layout fairly well with the current pattern.

A larger version of this image is available here.

By turning on the “3D Building” mode, the sense of change over time is really striking. I’ll have to try this with the famous Bonner map of 1722 which will make the land additions stand out even more.

Google Earth’s Version 4 (beta) is an incredible piece of software. If you would like to explore this map, the layer can be downloaded using this KML file: boston1839.kml. Assuming you have Google Earth installed, opening this file should launch the program and zoom in on Boston with the map layered over the city.

Update: I created a layer for the aforementioned Bonner Map.