Even though there’s no need to manually look up addresses today, the Blue Books still have a role to play as valuable documents for genealogical and historical study, thanks to their detailed insight into the names and lives of turn-of-the-century Bostonians.

But the Blue Books weren’t meant for just anyone. The “elite private address, carriage, and club directory” was marketed towards the upper class, as one could tell by looking at the ornate blue-gold cover. Boston at this time was highly segregated by class and social status.

However, the Boston Blue Book was not just a list of addresses. It contained indexed advertisements from all manners of shops, from locksmiths to clubs to breakfast cocoa vendors, as well as seating arrangements for the Boston’s premiere theaters.

At the time when the Blue Book was published, city maps became more common and more detailed, so many editions supplemented the addresses with an easier to navigate city plan.

The Boston Blue Books were a series of address directories, published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by businessman Edward E. Clark. It should not come as a surprise that in the 1880s the only way to find the address of a person or a business would be by flipping through a directory book.

In the spirit of Halloween, enjoy these particularly Gothic and spooky maps of New England! And take care not to be devoured by the monsters hiding in the trees…

The genocide of indigenous people, infamous witch hunts, and centuries of race and class-based discrimination have all left a dark spot on New England’s history. The implication that NE towns exist on blood-soaked land is both a powerful theme and an inspiration for the classic haunted backdrop.

New England’s bleak historical background also sets it apart from other regions. The Gothic genre, professor Bridget Marshall states, “is always interested in history, and New England has a deep and layered one.”

The cold, isolated woodland inspired a haunted atmosphere in stories, and later authors would continue the tradition of 19th century classics. The rainy, misty New England fall could also inspire dread; who know what lurks behind the white veil of mists?

“New England Gothic” is a genre centered around the anxiety evoked by the environment and history of the Northeastern US. BU professor Regina Hansen notes that authors like Hawthorne and Poe lived in a time when “people were terrified of the winter because they didn’t know if they would survive.”

Think of your favorite classic horror book, film, or story. There’s a pretty significant chance it is set somewhere in New England. From Stephen King’s “It” to Poe’s classic poems to H.P. Lovecraft’s famous mythos, New England towns have been disproportionately represented in horror media. But why?

Maps: Plan de la ville de Boston (1764), A correct view of the late battle at Charlestown : June 17th, 1775 (1775), The seat of war in New England, by an American volunteer… (1775), View of the country round Boston taken from Beacon hill (ca. 1775)
Source: WBUR

Eager to learn more about the way Boston’s geography ignited the Revolution? Visit our exhibition "Terrains of Independence" at the Leventhal Center gallery during our open hours: buff.ly/6R7iBuO. The exhibition features artifacts on loan from the City Archaeology Program.

To mark the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Boston’s City Archeologist, Joe Bagley, is leading a team to better understand the Charlestown of the past. The goal is to “[personalize] this history and make it hopefully mean something to a broader segment of the population.”

This may not sound like the biggest deal. However, during the Battle of Bunker Hill, the British shot heated cannon balls into Charlestown and reduced the neighborhood to ash. Though it was rebuilt, the original Charlestown is lost to time… or is it?

In many eighteenth century maps, Charlestown was often drawn with a broad brush.