The Davis Square Community

In Massachusetts (and other New England) towns, State Law requires that the Board of Selectmen "perambulate the bounds" of the town. Usually, this was done with the selectmen from the neighboring towns. Specifically, Mass. General Laws, Chapter 42, Section 1 states that "the Selectmen shall perambulate, run and mark the boundary lines of towns every five years or appoint substitutes and erect monuments at angles on boundary lines, also where a highway crosses lines". I don't believe cities are required to do this. For many towns, this requires traipsing through woods to find the historic markers. I used to work for a town and the selectmen used to send out a runner in advance who would place certain libations on each bound to keep the selectmen going from bound to bound. We were always careful, though, to avoid deer hunting season...