Talk:Middlesex County, Massachusetts/Archive 1

Archive 1

Standards

Wondering how to edit this U.S. County Entry?
The WikiProject U.S. Counties standards might help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rambot (talk • contribs) 03:57, 27 July 2003 (UTC)

Multiple county seats

The footnote on county seats is Campbell's list of county seats. It lists only Cambridge, not Lowell, as the county seat. I think we should remove all references to Lowell as the county seat of Middlesex County.

Furthermore, since the county government no longer exists, we should remove all references to any county seat: the seat being the place where the government of a county sits. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.121.147.173 (talk) 18:05, 15 June 2004 (UTC)

The County Map and the City and Town Map from the Massachusetts state web site [1] indicate that Lowell is a county seat of Middlesex County. I'm inclined to trust the state's official map unless I have a reason not to. AJD 02:30, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC)

If you look carefully at this PDF map] from the state's official website, you'll find that both Cambridge and Lowell are county seats. They have historically been considered county seats (especially in contexts related to the courts, which have been the primary function of counties for a long time), while gin general usage, Cambridge is considered the county seat, as that is where most county offices are housed, such as the registry of deeds, etc. Similarly, Taunton, New Bedford, and Fall River are all the county seats of Bristol County, while most county functions are housed in Taunton. In some southern states, a number of counties have had two county seats, and until the mid-1800s, both Newport and Providence served jointly as state capitals. See also http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/fac/schul/county/neweng.html and -- BCorr|Брайен 18:54, 18 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Whatever places were county seats, at any time, should be mentioned in the article, as history.-96.237.8.174 (talk) 21:40, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Miles vs Kilometers?

I was just looking at this page, and it struck me: all the areas are primarily in square kilometers instead of square miles. I tried changing them back to miles, but can anyone tell me why it was that way in the first place??? -TC — Preceding unsigned comment added by ToddC4176 (talk • contribs) 18:52, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Updates

This is my first major edit in Wikipedia. Sorry if I messed anything up. I added more detail to the "Law and Government" section, describing how the government of the county was organized before it was abolished and how some of the functions of the abolished county were transferred to state government. I added "external links" to the websites of both of the registries of deeds in the county. RPHJr (talk) 03:22, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Vandalism

Someone altered date for establishment of Middlesex County. Correct date was May 10, 1643. Now (Aug 29 2015) fixed. Date is given in reference: Hurd: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Volume 1 on page 195.

Here are two links to book both which allow full access:

• https://books.google.com/books?id=m74TAAAAYAAJ
• https://archive.org/stream/middlesexcounty01hurd#page/194/mode/2up

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Mfbabcock (talk • contribs) 14:26, 29 August 2015 (UTC)

Boundary history details

http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Massachusetts/viewer.htm
http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Massachusetts/documents/MA_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm#MIDDLESEX

• MIDDLESEX (selected -- see source for complete)

10 May 1643 MIDDLESEX created as one of four original counties in Massachusetts. (Mass. Recs., 2:38)

26 May 1658 MIDDLESEX lost small area (15 acres) to ESSEX when town of Andover gained from town of Billerica [location unknown, not mapped]. (Mass. Recs., vol. 4, pt. 1:333)

07 Oct 1691 MIDDLESEX continued under the new Massachusetts Bay provincial charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II [no change]. (Mass. Col. Acts, vol. 1, ch. 27 [1692-1693], sec. 1/p. 63; Swindler, 5:80)

10 Jul 1731 MIDDLESEX lost to creation of WORCESTER. (Mass. Col. Acts, vol. 2, ch. 8 [1730-1731], sec. 1/p. 584)

29 Jun 1732 MIDDLESEX exchanged with WORCESTER when town of Harvard was created from towns of Groton, Lancaster, and Stow. (Mass. Col. Acts, vol. 2, ch. 4 [1732-1733], sec. 1/p. 644)

14 Jun 1735 MIDDLESEX lost small area to WORCESTER when town of Upton was created from town of Hopkinton. (Mass. Col. Acts, vol. 2, ch. 11 [1735-1736], sec. 1/p. 764)

06 Mar 1767 MIDDLESEX gained small area from WORCESTER when town of Ashby was created from towns of Fitchburg and Ashburnham [change too small to display on interactive map; shapefile users see small_changes 1767_pt. for location]. (Mass. Col. Acts, vol. 4, ch. 15 [1766-1767]/p. 908)

16 Mar 1784 MIDDLESEX lost small area to WORCESTER when town of Berlin was created from towns of Marlborough, Northborough, and Bolton. (Mass. Acts 1784, ch. 23, sec. 1/p. 98)

16 Nov 1792 MIDDLESEX gained from WORCESTER when town of Ashby gained from town of Ashburnham. (Mass. Acts 1792, ch. 2, sec. 1/p. 224)

27 Mar 1835 MIDDLESEX exchanged with WORCESTER when towns of Holliston, Hopkinton, and Milford exchanged territory. (Mass. Acts 1835, ch. 72/p. 382)

23 Apr 1838 MIDDLESEX lost to NORFOLK when town of Roxbury gained from town of Newton. (Mass. Acts 1838, ch. 167, sec. 1/p. 481)

07 Jan 1858 MIDDLESEX gained from ESSEX when town of North Reading gained from town of Lynnfield. (Mass. Acts 1857, ch. 238, sec. 1/p. 572; Mass. Sec. Comm., 41)

20 Mar 1868 MIDDLESEX gained from WORCESTER when town of Hudson gained from town of Bolton. (Mass. Acts 1868, ch. 79, sec. 1/p. 62)

05 Jan 1874 MIDDLESEX lost to SUFFOLK when Boston gained all of Brighton and Charlestown. (Mass. Acts 1873, ch. 286, sec. 1/p. 716, ch. 303, sec. 1/p. 747, and ch. 314, sec. 1/p. 810)

29 Mar 1910 Boundary between MIDDLESEX and SUFFOLK was adjusted when line in the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge was adjusted [not mapped]. (Mass. Acts 1910, ch. 312, sec. 1/p. 239)

10 Apr 1947 MIDDLESEX exchanged small areas with ESSEX when town of Lynnfield exchanged with town of Reading. (Mass. Acts 1947, ch. 243, sec. 1/p. 222)

-96.237.8.174 (talk) 21:55, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Register of deeds

The title in Massachusetts really is "register of deeds", not "registrar of deeds". See for example the official websites for Maria Curtatone, the Middlesex South register of deeds, and Richard Howe, the Middlesex North register of deeds. AJD (talk) 06:16, 24 May 2023 (UTC)