(Rare Books & Manuscripts)
The BPL holds a collection of approximately 1,350 manuscript volumes of Boston tax records dating from 1780 to 1821. Bound together by date and type, the collection has long been available for consultation in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department. In 2000, all of the manuscripts in the collection were microfilmed. With the generous support of the Associates of the Boston Public Library, opens a new window, those microfilms were digitized in 2019 and can now be consulted online.
For further information, including detailed instructions for searching and browsing the records, along with readings and other resources, consult the BPL research guide., opens a new window
Tax records by year, ward, and type
The tables below contain links to all of the digitized tax records in the collection, broken down by year, ward, and type. Abatement books dated 1802 or later, and some of the miscellaneous tax books from the same date range, are grouped separately at the end. A very small number of manuscripts were never microfilmed and are therefore not yet digitized; these items, missing from the tables below, are labeled as such. Otherwise, omissions in the tables -- as with the 1787 taking books for wards 3 through 8 -- indicate the fact that the original manuscript records are not in the collection.
For best results, set display to "one-page view" after clicking on the links below
1780
1782
Abatement books |
Abatement book, 1782, opens a new window |
1783
Abatement books |
Abatement book, 1783, opens a new window |
1784
1785
Taking books | Abatement books |
Taking book, 1785, ward 6, opens a new window | Abatement book, 1785, opens a new window |
Taking book, 1785, ward 11, opens a new window |
1786
Abatement books | Minutes books |
Abatement book, 1786, opens a new window | Minutes book, 1786, opens a new window |
1787
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
(Post-1801 abatement books listed separately at bottom of page)
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
*The original manuscripts, though held by the library, were not microfilmed.
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
(Beginning in 1818, taking books are referred to as valuation books)
1819
1820
*The original manuscripts, though held by the library, were not microfilmed.
1821
1802-1821