The intersecting strips of townships and ranges formed a checkerboard or grid of townships. Numbered townships were laid out in tiers north and south of the baseline numbered ranges were laid out east and west of the meridians. Each color-block in the following map shows the states, or part of a state, surveyed using that area's principal meridian and base line.įor a larger version of this map, click here, and then click again to further enlarge it. As each territory or state opened new public lands, the government identified a meridian (running north and south) and a base line (running east and west) to guide all future land surveys in that area. The rectangular survey system is based on principal meridians and base lines determined by precise scientific measurements. These sections could then be further subdivided for re-sale by settlers and land speculators. Each of these townships were sub-divided into thirty-six sections of one square mile (2.59 km²) or 640 acres. Land was systematically surveyed into square 'Congressional' townships, six miles (9.656 km) on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the Public Land Survey System. the newer rectangular surveys (also known as Congressional township rectangular surveys) primarily used in federal land states.the older metes and bounds primarily used in state land states.In the United States, depending on the state, one of two main survey systems have been used to determine the borders of property: It will be easier to find and understand the land records of ancestors if you learn something about the Public Lands Survey System and its records. Sections are organized into a 6 x 6 square to form each township.

A township consists of 36 sections of one square mile each. In almost all these cases the land was surveyed and described as part of the Public Lands Survey System, which divided the land into Congressional townships on a township and range grid based on rectangular surveys. The National Archives in Washington, DC has over 10 million land entry case files of individuals trying to obtain a private claim to some of the public land in 30 federal land states from 1820-1908.

American township and range system