Boston: History, Former Names & Timeline

Capital of the Puritans' Massachusetts Bay Colony and cradle of the American independence movement.

Map showing Boston in 1700 — Border map for 1700. See the world in 1700.

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Former names of Boston

From	Name	Note
1630	Boston

Timeline of Boston

Year	Event
1630	Puritans found Boston
1636	Harvard College is founded
1770	The Boston Massacre
1773	The Boston Tea Party

Who ruled Boston

Derived from the border maps; each row runs until the next recorded border change.

Period	State
500 BC–101 BC	Eastern North American hunter-gatherers
100 BC–499	Unclaimed / no data
500–1491	Eastern North American hunter-gatherers
1492–1499	Massa-adchu-es-et (Massachusett)
1500–1599	Iroquois
1600–1649	Massachusett
1650–1782	Massachusetts Bay
1783–1814	United States of America
1815–1879	United States
1880–1913	United States of America
1914–today	United States

Battles and sites near Boston

Plymouth Colony · 1620
Battle of Lexington and Concord · 1775

Famous people of Boston

Lived	Person
1706 – 1790	Benjamin Franklin	Scientist and statesman

Nearby cities

New York · about 306 km
Montreal · about 403 km
Philadelphia · about 436 km

Questions about Boston

Which states have ruled Boston?

On the historical border maps from 500 BC to today, Boston lies within 7 different states: Eastern North American hunter-gatherers, Massa-adchu-es-et (Massachusett), Iroquois, Massachusett, Massachusetts Bay, United States of America, United States.

What are the key dates in the history of Boston?

1630: Puritans found Boston. 1636: Harvard College is founded. 1770: The Boston Massacre. 1773: The Boston Tea Party.

Which famous people are connected with Boston?

Benjamin Franklin (scientist and statesman, 1706 – 1790).

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.