Information from a source that helps us test a claim.
source
A document, object, image, or account we can examine.
inference
An explanation based on clues; it still needs checking.
migration
Moving from one place to another to live.
immigrant
A person who moves to another country to live.
estimate
An approximate amount, based on available information.
oral history
A recorded interview about someone’s memories and experiences.
community
People connected by a place, relationships, or shared activities.
ancestry
Family origins across generations.
primary source
Evidence created by someone who experienced a time or event.
Choose · notice · investigate
1600s maps
Explore seventeenth-century coasts, harbors, and islands. Ask whose knowledge and perspective the map represents.
These maps are grouped by the date of the original map. A preview may show a later photograph or facsimile (a copy). Check the caption for both dates. The 1500s maps show wider regions, before Massachusetts existed as a colony or state.
Showing 10 of 10 resources
Simon Athearn’s annotated Martha’s Vineyard map, 1698 — later photograph of a display copy.Harvard Forest; display at Manuel F. Correllus State Forest, based on a map at Martha’s Vineyard Museum Image source ↗
historical
Simon Athearn’s annotated Martha’s Vineyard map
Vineyard · 1600s
Study a photographed copy of an early annotated island map.
A question to investigate
Which place names can you find today?
Dig deeper · grades 6–8
Compare the map’s creator, date, purpose, scale, and missing information with a second map. Explain what changed and what stayed connected.
New England : the most remarqueable parts thus named by the high and mighty Prince Charles, prince of great Britaine — [1624]Boston Public Library / Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center; Smith, John, 1580-1631 Image source ↗
historical
New England, John Smith
regional · 1600s
Compare this 1624 edition of John Smith’s map with a map today.
A question to investigate
Which English place names were added to the coast?
Dig deeper · grades 6–8
Compare the map’s creator, date, purpose, scale, and missing information with a second map. Explain what changed and what stayed connected.
The South part of New-England, as it is Planted this yeare, 1639 — map leaf in William Wood’s New Englands prospect.Phillips Academy, Sidney R. Knafel Map Collection; William Wood; digital access via Leventhal Map & Education Center Image source ↗
historical
New England’s prospect
regional · 1600s
Look at settlements and waterways in an early New England map.
A question to investigate
Which features seem most important to its maker?
Dig deeper · grades 6–8
Compare the map’s creator, date, purpose, scale, and missing information with a second map. Explain what changed and what stayed connected.
A mapp of New England — [1675]Boston Public Library / Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center; Seller, John, fl. 1658-1698, Hills, John, active 17th century Image source ↗
historical
A map of New England
regional · 1600s
Explore a seventeenth-century view of New England.
A question to investigate
What looks stretched, missing, or unfamiliar?
Dig deeper · grades 6–8
Compare the map’s creator, date, purpose, scale, and missing information with a second map. Explain what changed and what stayed connected.
Boston Harbour in New England — [1689]Leventhal Map & Education Center / Boston Public Library; Seller, John, fl. 1658-1698, Southack, Cyprian, 1662-1745 Image source ↗
historical
Boston Harbour in New England
regional · 1600s
Study a harbor map from the seventeenth century.
A question to investigate
Why would a sailor need more than a coastline?
Dig deeper · grades 6–8
Compare the map’s creator, date, purpose, scale, and missing information with a second map. Explain what changed and what stayed connected.
Champlain’s map of Patuxet, based on his 1605 visit and printed in 1613.Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division; image via Plimoth Patuxet Museums. Image source ↗
exploration
Port St. Louis: Patuxet and Plymouth harbor
Patuxet / Plymouth / New England · 1600s
Houses and gardens show that this coast was already home to Wampanoag people. Water-depth numbers and sandbanks record features useful to visiting sailors. The map presents Champlain’s view of the place.
A question to investigate
Which details show a community living here before Plymouth Colony?
Champlain drew this manuscript chart in 1607.Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division; Harrisse Collection. Image source ↗
exploration
Coasts, harbors, and islands of New France
New England / Atlantic Canada · 1600s
This chart follows coastlines and harbors that mattered to sailors. Symbols mark settlements, trees, anchorages, and dangerous shallows. It combines Champlain’s observations with knowledge he gathered from Indigenous people.
A question to investigate
Why might a sailor need more detail along the coast than far inland?
Champlain’s 1612 map, published with his voyages in 1613.Samuel de Champlain; John Carter Brown Library scan, via Wikimedia Commons. Image source ↗
exploration
Geographical map of New France
New France / New England / Atlantic Canada · 1600s
The map links the Atlantic coast to the St. Lawrence and inland waters. Its border illustrations also reveal what European readers were being shown about people and plants. Such pictures reflect a European maker’s choices.
A question to investigate
What does the map emphasize besides the shapes of land and water?
An actual 1632 map from the Leventhal digital collection.Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, Mapping Boston Collection; original listed as Private Collection. Image source ↗
exploration
New France: Champlain’s later map
New France / eastern North America · 1600s
Compared with Champlain’s earlier maps, this map brings together a larger area of lakes and waterways. It also records European territorial ideas and many Indigenous communities. More information did not remove every geographic error.
A question to investigate
What changed between this map and Champlain’s 1612 map?
The Library of Congress dates this map reproduction’s source to 1612.Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-73508; illustration in F229.S69. Image source ↗
exploration
Virginia: John Smith’s Chesapeake map
Jamestown / Chesapeake comparison · 1600s
Smith’s map centers rivers and the communities beside them. Its compass shows that north is to the right. The maker relied on his journeys and information from Indigenous people, including places he had not visited.
A question to investigate
Find the compass. How does the map change when you locate north?
Sources checked September 23, 2026. Open the source for current programs, hours, access, and map updates. Historical maps may contain outdated language or incomplete representations of Native homelands.
