Important early maps of Sunderland were created  as a result of state mandates. In 1794 the General Court in Boston wanted to make an  accurate map of the Commonwealth, and required every town to submit a map.

On the left is a section of the published 1801 Map of Massachusetts ( drawn by Osgood Carleton). Only the principal roads are shown – there were many more roads in Sunderland by this time. The numbers in the middle are the distances to Boston and Northampton (miles).

By this time Sunderland has assumed its modern boundaries – it is no longer the large old town which included Leverett and part of Montague.

The meetinghouse/town hall  is indicated by a small circle and cross symbol.

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The map detail shows the town center in 1794 (north is at the left). Here we see a drawing of the old meetinghouse, a few roads nearby and two ferries on the Connecticut River. The meetinghouse sketch may be what the old building looked like – other maps of this era are known to have drawn accurate pictures of old structures. Below we show the entire 1794 map, followed by some more excerpts.

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Its an attractive map showing principal roads, the mountainous area around Mount Toby, and the area and dimensions of the town. The legislature wanted to know about industrial activity and improvements, so the map shows the locations of several water-powered mills and four bridges (capital letters). The inset describes the mills “2 grist mills, 1 sawmill & one fulling mill standing on one stream which springs out of the Ground in less than two Hundred Rods from said Mills…”

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