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Massachusetts is a state located in Northeastern United States. Minor civil divisions or municipalities in the U.S. state of Massachusetts are classified as either towns or cities, distinguished by their form of government under state law. Towns have an open town meeting or representative town meeting form of government. Cities, on the other hand, use a mayor-council or council-manager form. Based on the form of government, there are 296 towns and 55 cities in Massachusetts. Some municipalities, however, still refer to themselves as "towns" even though they have a city form of government.
Contents
List of cities by official name
The following tabular list shows the 55 government divisions of the Commonwealth which have been officially granted the right to use the city form of government along with the official name in use by each municipality.
Geography of towns at formation
This map shows towns colored by the date they were incorporated in Massachusetts since the founding of Plimoth Plantation in 1620. Many of the towns and future cities shown covering the area of their original incorporation have since been divided into two, three or in some cases several smaller municipalities. For example, Dorchester was incorporated in 1630 and originally included all of the current Dorchester, now the largest neighborhood of Boston, plus the Boston neighborhood of Mattapan, and all of present-day Quincy, Milton, Braintree, Randolph, Holbrook, Canton, Sharon, Stoughton, Avon and the northeast portion of Foxboro. Nearly all of Massachusetts territory had been incorporated by 1815, with the final three areas of Erving (1838), Gay Head (now Aquinnah) and Mashpee (both 1870) being incorporated from previously Native American land.
Former municipalities
Some towns and cities were annexed to others; disincorporated; or ceded to another state in their entirety. This list does not include territory changes affecting only part of a municipality; see History of Massachusetts.
Annexations
The following formerly independent municipalities have been annexed to Boston:
The town of Bradford was annexed to Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1897.
Disincorporations
The following towns were disincorporated in 1938 due to the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir; all their territory was absorbed into surrounding towns:
Cessions
The following towns were ceded the Rhode Island colony in 1747 as part of a border dispute:
The following towns joined the Connecticut Colony in the late 1749 after separating from Springfield or just joining Connecticut.
The following towns joined from the Province of New Hampshire from 1641 to 1680 since the government at the time was not strong enough.
Also all settlements in the District of Maine were ceded when the state of Maine gained its independence from Massachusetts in 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise, and numerous towns were ceded to New Hampshire after the Northern boundary of Massachusetts was defined by royal decree.
Archaic names
Many municipalities have changed names.