Four hundred years, and then what.

The calendar

One historical date, two calendars.

The Massachusetts General Court named Boston on 7 September 1630 under the Julian calendar then in use (Old Style). That historical day corresponds to 17 September 1630 in the Gregorian calendar (New Style). The Winthrop Fleet's arrival earlier in 1630 was a separate event.

Our countdown uses 7 September 2030 to follow the recorded Old Style month and day. It is Boston Together's commemorative choice, not a claim that an official municipal anniversary date or programme has been agreed. A commemoration following the converted Gregorian month and day would use 17 September 2030.

The precedent

What 1930 left behind.

The last time this happened, the two towns marked it together. Boston, Massachusetts celebrated its tercentenary in 1930 with Mayor James Michael Curley, the dedication of the Founders Memorial on Boston Common, and a visit from dignitaries across the Atlantic.

In St Botolph's, the Governors Plaque was installed. The Lincolnshire coat of arms went up on the Ashburton Gate. Memorials and plaques went up on both sides. Those objects are still there, still in place, still doing their work — which is the whole argument for making things rather than holding parties.

The 350th anniversary fell in 1980 and the 375th in 2005. Anniversary dates alone do not establish the scale or official status of commemorations: municipal celebrations and independent organisations' activities should be identified separately, with their organisers named.

The ambition

What a good 2030 would leave behind.

An anniversary that ends when the calendar turns is a wasted four years. We would judge 2030 by what is still running in 2035.

• A transatlantic events calendar that starts in 2027, not in September 2030, so the work is finished before the crowd arrives.
• A permanent heritage trail in both towns — the objects, the cells, the quay, the chapel, the gates — with the same interpretation on both shores.
• The schools programme already running and already embedded, so that it does not depend on the anniversary to keep going.
• A digitised archive, jointly held, that any teacher or genealogist can reach from either side.
• A small standing fund, endowed before 2030, that keeps the exchanges alive when the grant money and the goodwill have moved on.

The calendar, trail, exchanges, archive and fund below are ambitions for discussion, not confirmed events, funded commitments or institutional partnerships.

Who is already working

We are not the only ones, and we should not be.

Boston 400 has been championing the quadricentennial for years and documents the ties between the towns in detail. The Partnership of Historic Bostons has run free public history programmes since 1999 and carries the Boston Charter Day tradition. On the Lincolnshire side the Borough Council, the Parish of Boston and the Guildhall museum are the institutions that will actually have to host things.

Archives and repositories on both shores have opportunities to collaborate around the anniversary, including through discussion of religious and historical records. This is an opportunity, not an assertion of a confirmed joint programme or institutional agreement.

Boston Together exists to connect those efforts, not to compete with them. If you are already doing this work, tell us and we will point our audience at you.

Your part

How to put something forward.

If you have an event, a research project, a family story, a school idea, a business proposition or a correction to something we have published, the fastest route is the dispatch form below. Tick the interests that fit and we will come back to you.

We cannot fund much yet. We can publish, convene, introduce and keep a calendar — and we would rather be useful early than impressive late.

Boston Together is an independent initiative. It is not an official municipal partnership and does not speak for either town's council.