A funny thing happens when you clean out your grandfather's attic: you find treasures. We happened to find two copies of a small booklet prepared by the Town of Chatham and the Chamber of Commerce in 1974. This booklet lists every road in Chatham (as of 1974) and includes an abbreviation of the section of Town within which the road is located. We augmented the MassDOT road list with this data and created a GIS map that plots the results.

Is it right?

There were never any official designations of the villages of Chatham. The old maps depict the centers and not the outer boundaries.

There are a few anomalies in the book. Looking in West Chatham at the Soundview Subdivision (off Ridgevale Road), there are two little roads that were designated in South Chatham. Meetinghouse Road / Route 137 was only designated within Northwest Chatham while other roads nearby do not match this designation.

Does it matter?

It does not really matter, but yes it does matter. From the Comprehensive Plan to the MLS listings for property sales, the villages play an important role in the Town. This does not mean that one village is better than another. Anybody fortunate enough to have property in any part of Chatham should be thankful; they should be proud to be in any designated village.

Is this official?

We use it only because there is no other definitive source for the determination of the villages of Chatham.

Enjoy this map as you want to. I understand if some people are upset that their property is not in the village they thought it was within. Complaints require a time machine to see the Town in 1974.