Surveyor’s Chain | c. mid-1700

1651:331:1

This chain, called a “Gunter chain” after its inventor, is exactly 22 yards long and has 100 links. By counting chains and links instead of feet and inches, surveyors could take measurements in decimal numbers and then convert easily to feet and yards. Ten links equal one rod. Ten square chains are one acre. 

John Jones (1716-1802), a prominent figure in colonial-era Natick, owned this chain and probably used it to prepare his many maps and surveys during the period when English settlers were taking ownership of Natick’s land.