Original articleApplication of geographic information technologies to historical landscape reconstruction and military terrain analysis of an American Revolution Battlefield: Preservation potential of historic lands in urbanized settings, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Section snippets
Research aims
The research goal for this investigation was to employ geographic information technologies (GIT) and traditional historical research to recreate the historical landscape and topography of Boston's Inner Harbor during the 1775 American Revolutionary War Battle of Chelsea Creek. Employing this base-level dataset, we sought to assess the military landscape upon which the battle occurred. In addition, we compared historical and current spatial data to determine the preservation potential for sites
Discussion
The abundance of cartographic sources for the Boston area provided a rich source of resources that proved crucial for the accurate depiction of the historical landscape and topography. This interdisciplinary investigation utilized the most accurate historical maps depicting the Boston area. The numerous Coast Survey maps dating from the early 19th century were most important as they provided accurate base-level information. The accurate depiction of the historical landscape could likely not
Conclusions
This study embraced an interdisciplinary research approach to successfully create an accurate digital representation of the 1775 landscape and topography of Boston's Inner Harbor and enabled for the mapping and visualization of a complicated set of events taking place in time and space. A KOCOA assessment was carried out and defining features have been identified and mapped. Further, time series maps were created to visualize key battle events. Areas of the battlefield having preservation
Acknowledgements
The following organizations and individuals provided support, consultation and data for the GIS project. Special thanks to the National Park Service, American Battlefield Protection Program Grant Agreement No. GA-2255-09-018 for funding this research. The completed report submitted in fulfilment of the grant obligations can be accessed at http://www.mass.gov/czm/docs/pdf/chelsea_creek_battle.pdf. Daniel Sampson and The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, Boston Survey Consultants
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