The 1919 creation of the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) was the result of the merger of the Metropolitan Park Commission (MPC, 1893-1919) and the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board (1901-1919). In 1919, the MDC established four divisions: Parks (1919-1926), Park Engineering (1919-2003), Water (1919-1985), and Sewerage (1919-1985). In 1947, a new Construction Division was established (lasting into the 1970s). The Water Division and Sewerage Division were abolished in 1985, and all sewerage works functions and the distribution function of the water works system were transferred to the new Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). Simultaneously, a new Division of Watershed Management (1985-2003) was created to manage the water supply function of the water works system. As part of its function to design, construct, and manage the Metropolitan Parks System, the Metropolitan Water Works System, and the Metropolitan Sewerage Works System, as authorized by St 1919, c 350, s 123, the Metropolitan District Commission (1919-2003), maintained a record of its meetings, and was required to account for its activities and expenditures. Records in this series include the bound volumes of the minutes. Members of the commission consisted of the commissioner and four associate commissioners (St 1919, c 350, s 124). Between 1919 and 2003, the commissioners held 4,079 meetings. Minutes and associated card index and subject files were maintained by the secretary of the commission, with the cards and subject files now held by the successor Dept. of Parks and Recreation. All volumes are typed. No official minutes were compiled for the June 19 and June 26, 2003 final meetings of the commission. Individual volumes do not include an index. The minutes are indexed through a master card Index, arranged A-Z, by subject, that was maintained between 1893 and 1972 (with the MPC/MDC cards interfiled). The secretary's office subject files, 1972-2003, serve as an index to the minutes for that period. It should be noted that a typical item in the minutes will reference a letter or a report that was submitted to the secretary as a background file to that item. Letters and reports for the 1893-1971 period are not generally extant, with those for 1930-1971 being discarded during the 1960s through 1985, under authorization of the Commonwealth's Records Conservation Board.