Municipal services

Scope and Contents

Includes bills and receipts for services and materials purchased by the City of Boston, circa 1822-1870. The records are generally grouped by department and date and record the materials or services purchased, the cost and a signature or note approving the purchase.

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The South Boston Memorial is a long petition signed by nine men including Isaac Adams which was presented to the Mayor on June 10, 1847. It expressed concerns regarding the need for paved and graded streets, pure water, and expenditures for services such as lighting, police, and schools in South Boston. The Petition for Reservoir and Public Square is a shorter document signed by numerous citizens, dated June 14, 1848.

Scope and Contents note The City Council Committee on the Fire Department records date from 1816-1844, bulk dates from 1831-1841. The collection contains fire department records and correspondence which document the transactions, personnel, activities and growth of the department from a subscription organization to a professional fire department. The original organization has been retained as much as possible, including the title Sundry Papers & Returns, which reflect the variety of the contents. The...

Scope and Contents note This collection includes records of various City Council committees during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The collection spans the years 1828-1912 with the bulk of the material dating from 1860-1895. These records were kept by the Clerk of Committees and include minutes of committee meetings, correspondence, reports, bids, petitions, programs, etc. Committees represented include Police, Fire, Claims, Arrangements, Common and Public Grounds, Underground Wires, Public...

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Register recording complaints made to the Mayor's Office from 1885-1888. Includes date, name of person, complaint and disposition.

Scope and Contents note The City Contracts collection consists of records from 1852-1869, with the bulk of materials from 1862-1869. There is a small amount of leases for apartment buldings, but the majority of the records deal with either the construction of public buildings or the maintenance of Boston. There are numerous contracts for New City Hall, City Hospital, Public Garden, and school houses. These have been grouped together into a subseries for each prospective year (i.e., records for school houses in 1862...

Scope and Contents note One of the functions of the Law Department is to provide formal and informal opinions to the Mayor, the City Council, the Boston School Committee, and City or County Officials and other employees in matters relating to the discharge of their official duties. This collection documents the communications between various city officials and employees and the Law Department regarding these requests. The collection is divided into two series based on the format of the records. The first series...

Scope and Contents note This collection includes files kept by the City's Law Department on various issues, cases, questions that came before the department during the 20th century. Significant issues, etc. represented in this collection include the Cocoanut Grove Fire, West End Redevelopment, World War, City Real estate holdings, gifts to the city, bridge construction, City Hospital, City Hall construction and many others. The first series includes a numbered reference file that was kept by the Law Department...

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Includes Executive Director files, administrative files, general files, committee minutes, Model Neighborhood Board minutes and files, budgets, reports, policies and procedures, and publications. This collection is unprocessed.

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Bundle of "old papers and memorandum respecting the town's rights and the boundaries of estates on the dock with some old plans." Includes both original documents and extracts from town records.

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Specifications and contracts for Public Works Department projects kept by the Public Works Department Bridge and Ferry Division and Contract Office.