Massachusetts Public Records online by County and Municipality

Below is a list of Massachusetts counties and municipalities with links to public records they offer online.

At the County level these records include:

• property & land searches at Registry of Deeds

• court records at Court

• random public records available at Public Records

• land and plat surveys at GIS & Mapping

and at the Municipal/City/Town level these records include:

• tax & property searches at Assessor

• tax payment searches at Treasurer

• random public records available at Public Records

• land and plat surveys at GIS & Mapping

For genealogy and family history purposes we’ve used these resources to look up addresses of former homes, figure out when someone lived there, track the value of the real estate, & document upturns and downturns in a family’s economic situation. It’s also helpful to look up any recorded documents, probate, deeds, lawsuits to track family members & add some depth to the family history.

• for genealogists: Acushnet: Historic Town Reports, 1860-2018
• Gloucester Vital Records Search, 1838-1883 AND Gloucester Digital Collections
• Newton Vital Records Search and City Directories

Massachusetts Public Records collections

US – United States Public Records, 1970-2009, index

Massachusetts – [First-] Thirty-second report of the commissioner of public records … 1888-1919

Massachusetts – House documents of file in Massachusetts Archives, #1134 : petitions to towns for tax relief, vols. 180-188, 303, 1780-1790

Massachusetts – The laws relating to the public records and public documents, with opinions of the attorneys-general

Massachusetts – The Massachusetts civil list for the colonial and provincial periods, 1630-1774 : being a list of the names and dates of appointment of all the civil officers constituted by authority of the charters, or the local government

Massachusetts – Massachusetts royal commissions, 1681-1774

Massachusetts – Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial and post colonial period 1626-1806

Massachusetts – Petitions to protest elections, 1776-1786

Massachusetts – The Plymouth scrap book : the oldest original documents extant in Plymouth archives printed verbatim, some repoduced, with a review of Bradford’s History of Plymouth plantation

Massachusetts – Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England : printed by order of the legislature

Massachusetts – Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England : printed by order of the legislature, 1st AMS ed.

Essex County – Public Records – Old Norfolk County Records, at FS

Essex County – Public Records – Public Notary Book, 1723-1769, at FS

Hampden County – Public Records – Financial Records, 1739-1780, at FS

Nantucket County – Public Records – Financial Statement of the Town and County of Nantucket, Together with Reports of the School Committee and Other Town Officers, at FS

Worcester County – Public Records – County Commissioner’s Records, 1863-1866, at FS

Abington – Public Records – Annual Report of the Officers and Committees, at FS

Ashby – Public Records – Financial Records, 1768-1897, at FS

Ashfield – Public Records – Annual Report of the Town Officers to the Inhabitants of the Town of Ashfield for the Year Ending, at FS

Ashfield – Public Records – Library Records, 1815-1866, at FS

Athol – Public Records – Annual Report, Town of Athol, Massachusetts, at FS

Bedford – Public Records – Selectmen’s Records, 1834-1851, at FS

Bellingham – Public Records – Records of the Poor House and Farm, 1831-1851, at FS

Bellingham – Public Records – Treasurer’s Book of Accounts, 1753-1824, at FS

Billerica – Public Records – Book of Grants, 1678-1786, at FS

Boston – Public Records – A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, at FS

Boston – Public Records – A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston : Containing the Boston Records from 1660 to 1701, at FS

Boston – Public Records – A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston : Containing the Boston Records from 1700 to 1728, at FS

Boston – Public Records – A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston : Containing the Boston Town Records, 1742-1757, at FS

Boston – Public Records – Annual Report of the Registry Department of the City of Boston for the Year, at FS

Boston – Public Records – Boston, Massachusetts Book of Possessions, 1827, at FS

Boston – Public Records – Earliest Records of the Town of Boston, at FS

Boston – Public Records – Second Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston Containing the Boston Records, 1634-1660, and the Book of Possessions, at FS

Boston – Public Records – Selectmen’s Minutes, 1701-1822; Mayor and Alderman’s Minutes, 1822-1904; City Council Records, 1910-1914, at FS

Bradford – Public Records – Miscellaneous Civil Records, 1835-1878, at FS

Braintree – Public Records – Records of the Town of Braintree : 1640 to 1793, at FS

Burlington – Public Records – Annual Report of the Town Officers of Burlington, Massachusetts Year Ending, at FS

Burlington – Public Records – School Registers, 1846-1850, at FS

Dedham – Public Records – Dedham Land and Miscellaneous Records, 1636-1961, at FS

Dedham – Public Records – The Record of the Town Meetings, and Abstract of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1887-1896, at FS

Dorchester – Public Records – A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, at FS

Dorchester – Public Records – Fourth Report of the Record Commissioners 1880, at FS

Dorchester – Public Records – Fourth Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston 1880: Dorchester Town Records, at FS

Fitchburg – Public Records – Address of the Mayor, Together with the Annual Reports for the City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts for the Year, at FS

Greenwich – Public Records – Applications and Certificates for State and Military Aid for Residents of Greenwich, Massachusetts : 1895-1912, at FS

Groton – Public Records – The Town Records of Groton, Massachusetts, at FS

Huntington – Public Records – Annual Reports of the Clerk, Treasurer, Selectmen … of the Town of Huntington, at FS

Ipswich – Public Records – Ipswich Court Records and Files, at FS

Ipswich – Public Records – Proprietors Records of Turner Hill, in Ipswich, 1726-1823, at FS

Ipswich – Public Records – Records of the Feofees (officers) of the Grammar School, 1660-1835, at FS

Lakeville – Public Records – Annual Report of the Town Officers of the Town of Lakeville for the Year, at FS

Leyden – Public Records – Annual Report of the Town Officers of the Town of Leyden, at FS

Lincoln – Public Records – Treasurer’s Book of Finances, 1755-1859, at FS

Lowell – Public Records – Journal of the Board of Aldermen, 1836-1847, at FS

Lowell – Public Records – Ordinances and Resolutions, 1845-1850, at FS

Lynn – Public Records – Records of Ye Towne Meetings of Lyn, at FS

Lynnfield – Public Records – Town of Lynnfield, Essex County, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Annual Report for the Year Ending December 31, at FS

Marlborough – Public Records – Proprietor’s Records, 1637-1803, at FS

Middleborough – Public Records – Annual Report of the Town Officers of Middleborough, Massachusetts for the Year Ending, at FS

Millbury – Public Records – Treasurer’s Account Book, 1832-1889, at FS

Nantucket – Public Records – Financial Statement of the Town and County of Nantucket, Together with Reports of the School Committee and Other Town Officers, at FS

Needham – Public Records – Selectmen’s Records, 1799-1850, at FS

Needham – Public Records – Treasurer’s Records, 1769-1784, at FS

New Salem – Public Records – Vital Records of New Salem, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849, at FS

Northfield – Public Records – Annual Reports of the School Committee, and Finances of the Town of Northfield for the Year Ending …, at FS

Northfield – Public Records – Valuation and Taxes of the Town of Northfield, Massachusetts, at FS

Pembroke – Public Records – Annual Report of the Town Officers, Town of Pembroke, Year Ending December 31, at FS

Pepperell – Public Records – Annual Reports of the Officers of the Town of Pepperell, Mass., at FS

Plymouth – Public Records – Annual Report of the Town Officers of the Town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, at FS

Plymouth – Public Records – Peirce’s Colonial Lists : Civil, Military and Professional Lists of Plymouth and Rhode Island Colonies, Comprising Colonial, County and Town Officers, Clergymen, Physicians and Lawyers ; with Extracts from Colonial Laws Defining Their Duties. 1621-1700, at FS

Plymouth – Public Records – Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England : Printed by Order of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at FS

Plymouth – Public Records – The Plymouth Scrap Book : the Oldest Original Documents Extant in Plymouth Archives Printed Verbatim, Some Repoduced, with a Review of Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation, at FS

Quincy – Public Records – The … Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the Town of Quincy : Also, the Annual Reports of the Treasurer, Auditors, Surveyor of Highways, School Committee, Trustees of the Public Library and Trustees of the Woodward Fund, with Vital Statistics Furnished by the Town Clerk, at FS

Randolph – Public Records – Minutes of Planning Board, 1957-1962, at FS

Rockland – Public Records – Annual Report of the Town Officers of the Town of Rockland Massachusetts for the Year Ending, at FS

Rowe – Public Records – Periodicals – Annual Report of the Town of Rowe Massachusetts, at FS

Roxbury – Public Records – Minutes of the Town Records of Roxbury, 1648-1846; and Selectmen’s Records, and Miscellaneous Records, 1787-1846, at FS

Salem – Public Records – City Records, 1836-1859; Index to Records, 1836-1870, at FS

Salem – Public Records – Notary Public Records of Stephen Sewall, Salem, Massachusetts, 1696-1722, at FS

Salem – Public Records – The Records of the Salem Commoners, 1713-1739, at FS

Shirley – Public Records – Annual Report of the Selectmen of Shirley : Together with a Report of the Treasurer, Assessors, Overseers of the Poor, Fire Department, Trustees of the Public Library, Auditors, Items from Town Clerk’s Book, and Town Warrant, Also the Annual Report of the School Committee, at FS

Southwick – Public Records – Annual Reports … of the Town of Southwick, at FS

Tewksbury – Public Records – Treasurer’s Records, 1793-1845, at FS

Townsend – Public Records – Annual Reports of the Officers and Committees of the Town of Townsend, at FS

Uxbridge – Public Records – Revolutionary Soldiers Receipts and Miscellaneous Colonial Records, 1749-1794 Approx., at FS

Waltham – Public Records – Financial Papers of the Town of Waltham, Massachusetts, at FS

Waltham – Public Records – Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston : to Which is Appended the Early History of the Town, with Illustrations, Maps and Notes, at FS

Watertown – Public Records – 18th Century – Record of the West Precinct of Watertown, Massachusetts, 1720 to 1737-38, at FS

Watertown – Public Records – Annual Report of the Officers of the Town of Watertown, at FS

Watertown – Public Records – Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston : to Which is Appended the Early History of the Town, with Illustrations, Maps and Notes, at FS

Watertown – Public Records – List of Persons Reported for the Assessment of a Poll Tax, at FS

Watertown – Public Records – Taxable Valuation of the Real and Personal Estates with the Amount of Tax in the Town of Watertown, at FS

Wendell – Public Records – Town of Wendell, Massachusetts, at FS

Westminster – Public Records – Annual Reports of the Town Officers of Westminster : for the Year Ending, at FS

Whitman – Public Records – Annual Report of Town Officers and Committees of Whitman, at FS

Woburn – Public Records – Annual Report of the Woburn City Government, for the Year, at FS