Charting Wilbraham: Aaron Bliss and the 1830 Town Map

One of the earliest maps of Wilbraham was created by Aaron Bliss in 1830. This map was part of a statewide effort prompted by the 1829 Massachusetts Resolves (Chapter 50), which required every town, including Boston, to submit an up-to-date town plan to the state secretary’s office. Each plan had to be based on a survey conducted within the previous five years and drawn to a precise scale of one hundred rods to the inch.

These detailed town plans were to include a wide range of features: rivers and waterways; public and private roads; places of worship; courthouses and other public buildings; distances from the town center to the county shire town and to Boston; bridges and ferries; natural landmarks such as falls, ponds, shores, harbors, islands, mountains, and hills; as well as industrial and economic sites like mills, manufactories, mines, iron works, meadows, and woodlands.

One of the earliest maps of Wilbraham was created by Aaron Bliss in 1830.