An Investigation of Nineteenth Century Surveyors and Land Planners in Massachusetts: 1830-1860

Abstract

This paper analyzes a number of subdivision and cemetery plans which were prepared by anonymous surveyors working in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, between 1820 and 1860. The unpublished, original plans of surveyors entered in county record books are the primary sources of this study. Although the surveyors had little formal training, they worked for a discriminating clientele and apparently relied on landscape periodicals and books for design and plant information. The research findings suggest a connection between the work of these early surveyors and the development of landscape architecture in Middlesex County.