You may even see a question or two about the numbering system used for sections. The principal meridians are not located in equal distances from one another. Also known as the Rectangular Survey System, it was created by the Land Ordinance of 1785 to survey land ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, following the end of the American Revolution. For example, a legal description of Missouri, Fifth Principal Meridian, T4S, R7E, sec 23 indicates a property that is 4 townships south and 7 townships east of the Fifth Principal Meridian in Missouri. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Sections also are numbered consecutively. D. Rectangular government survey C Jacob is a developer who purchased 78 acres and had it subdivided into halfacre lots. )\r\nThe description probably would include the state and county in which the property is located and use abbreviations. Police Power in Real Estate Significance & Examples | What is Police Power? Other survey systems include the metes and bounds system and the lot and block system. 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 Method established a standard measurement and origin point for all properties to follow using a grid system. Guide meridians run north to south, parallel with principal meridians. The area created by the intersection of a township line and a range line is a township. The rectangular survey system devised for the PLSS is often credited to Thomas Jefferson. Principal meridians, baselines, and where they intersect (cross each other) are used as the basis for formulating property descriptions in this system. The Rectangular Survey System is a grid system of townships and sections that is used to divide the land into manageable units. All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by this rectangular system of surveys. The rectangular government survey system is the most common system used in the United States to create legal descriptions for real estate. These range lines form ranges. (The figure below shows a variety of divisions in a quarter section. Dummies has always stood for taking on complex concepts and making them easy to understand. Many areas in the other states are also more accurate. Only about half of the states in the United States still use the Rectangular Survey System. So, there can be the north, south, east, or west half section.\r\n\r\nBecause of the curvature of the earth, the lines in the government survey system are only theoretically straight. Normally, a permanent monument, or marker, is placed at each section corner. The earliest land surveys in Minnesota were conducted under the jurisdiction of the Surveyor General of Iowa and Wisconsin, headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa. ","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"The
rectangular survey system, often referred to as the
government survey system, is based on a system of lines that form rectangles and squares throughout the United States. The Rectangular Survey System can be thought of as a grid that covers the U.S. True of False - When land is mapped on the rectangular survey system, you locate the parcel by reading the directions from left to right. succeed. The rectangular survey system was developed in an effort to try and describe all of the land in our country. So how does the system describe land? The smallest division in this system is usually 10-acre quarters. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Sign up for the newsletter to get exclusive real estate exam tips that I don't share anywhere else. The legal description can be further described by indicating which directional half or quadrants of the section, as well. As we mentioned earlier, two primary survey methods are used in the United States, the Metes and Bounds System, and the Rectangular Survey System. Graphic depiction of the Rectangular Survey System. Townships have an area of 36 square miles, more or less, and are each further divided into 36 sections.\r\n \t
Sections: The divisions of a township, sections, are one mile square and have an area of one square mile, or 640 acres. There are 36 sections in a township, and each section contains one square mile, which is 640 acres. Whenever properties have irregular boundaries, the land may be further described using one of the two other systems described in this section. For instance, a quarter section always contains 160 acres, or a fourth of the total 640 acres in a section. Township lines run parallel to the baseline, from east to west, defining how far north and south of the baseline a township is located. Remember, there are 36 square miles in a township, and each section is 1 square mile. The guide meridians occur every 24 miles east and west of the principal meridian. Putting the above description into words is half of a quarter section. Section 16 is located directly in the center of the section and historically was always designated as the school section. He decided to install sewer and underground electric for the entire subdivision, because he thinks that he will easily recoup his initial infrastructure investment. Land is designated as either a base line (East-West) or principal meridian line (North-South). So, there can be the north, south, east, or west half section.\r\n\r\nBecause of the curvature of the earth, the lines in the government survey system are only theoretically straight. Constructive Notice in Real Estate Overview & Law | What is Constructive Notice? For example, how many acres are there if you take the North East of the South 1/2 of section 3 in township 8 North and range 5 west? The image does not specifically designate which meridian or state, but as they are all divided and labeled the same, this could represent any section of land along any meridian that would be identified in the legal description. The squares created by range and township lines are known as townships and are identified by their location from the baseline and principal meridian lines. After the Revolutionary War ended, the United States Government needed a way to describe lands in the West to insure locating and selling. Range lines run north and south between the principal meridians and are spaced out every six miles. PLSS The Public Land Survey System is a way of subdividing and describing land in the United States. 1 Square mile is equal to 640 acres. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. These surveys, completed between 1848 and May 1857 were primarily on land located between the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers or in the southeastern corner of Minnesota. You may have math questions on your real estate licensing exam related to this concept. According to historian Matthew Dennis, this rectangular survey system allowed the leaders of the young government to apply their "nationalistic, scientific, and engineering mentality in transforming the continental landscape of North America, reconceptualizing its space, subduing and organizing it, and distributing it to white yeoman farmers in As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 Just because they are referred to as government lots does not mean the government owns the land they contain. Using the Fifth Principal Meridian in Missouri, the description would look like this: The W 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of Section 14, Township 2 South, Range 3 West of the Fifth Principal Meridian, Missouri. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. Simply multiply 640 by or 0.25, which equals 160, then multiply 160 by 1/2 or 0.5, which equals 80. That could be further divided into quarters, such as the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 18 of a township would be 40 acres. Additionally, the terms used in the Rectangular Survey System can have different meanings under other systems of measurement and governmental designations. Finally, sections can be further divided into halves or quarters that are named for their direction within the section: the east half, the west half, the north half, the south half, the northwest quarter, the northeast quarter, the southwest quarter, and the southeast quarter. That means it is 3 townships north of the baseline and 5 townships east of the principal meridian. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. This point will be the basis for all government surveys in the area it controls, and its latitude and longitude are fixed by astronomical observations. The states that use the rectangular survey system are:Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, and Florida. There may also be questions about how much land is in a specific plot or section. Since townships are six miles north to south and six miles east to west, each township is 36 square miles. It is the lands boundary lines that also have terminal points and angles. [/caption]\r\n\r\nEach section of 640 acres can be divided into halves and quarters called, get this, half sections and quarter sections. This indicates that the property is between the baseline and the first township line to the north and between the first and second range lines to the east of the fifth principal meridian. Doing the math, its 1/2 1/4 640 = 80 acres.\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_274746\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"556\"]
![\"quarter](\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/real-estate-exam-quarter-section.jpg\")
A quarter section can be split into smaller parts. The area includes sections (1 mile on each side), townships (6 miles on each side), and quadrangles (24 miles on each side). Concepts will include principal meridians, the PLSS, and how sections of a township are. For example, how many acres are there if you take the North East of the South 1/2 of section 3 in township 8 North and range 5 west? . Quadrangles have an area of 576 square miles, more or less, and are divided into 16 townships.\r\n \t
Townships: The divisions of a quadrangle, townships, are six miles square (six miles on each side) and are delineated by township lines. The roads in a lot of communities in the U.S. run along survey Base Lines as well just like in Arkansas, especially in Little Rock, the baseline road follows the baseline used by the Louisiana Purchase surveyors. Principal meridians, baselines, and where they intersect (cross each other) are used as the basis for formulating property descriptions in this system. The coordinates are then used to create a legal description for the property. In the entire nation, there are only 36 principal meridians. Half sections have an area of 320 acres. These divisions mean just that. The range and township lines create a 36-square-mile area called a township. In other words, after section number 6, it drops down to 7 on the next tier then goes left to right to number 12. These tools will help you assess your knowledge of concepts pertaining to the Rectangular Survey System. It made sense since it was centrally located. These are known as correction lines and guide meridians. Continue with Recommended Cookies. He teaches pre-licensing and continuing education courses for salespeople, brokers, and appraisers. There are 16 townships in each quadrangle. In reality, because of this earth curvature issue, many sections and townships vary from their exact area measurements. Guide meridians run north to south, parallel with principal meridians. Prior to the land ordinance of 1785 and the Rectangular Survey System, the state lands state which would be the 13 colonies, surveyed their land with meets and bound system. The government survey system divides the country into a huge grid using principal meridians that run north to south and baselines that run east to west. The system was created by Thomas Jefferson in 1785. (The figure below shows a variety of divisions in a quarter section.). How Do You Use the Rectangular Survey System? Townships are subdivided into 36 one-mile- square sections. The second set of lines are called baselines and run east and west. Read Also: Government Grants For Commercial Real Estate. It uses the 37 principal meridian lines that run north to south across the U.S. and baselines that run east to west. It is extended north from the Base Line and runs at 24 miles east and west from the principal meridian. The Rectangular Survey System is used for surveying land for sale and settling, along with the Metes and Bounds survey method. As mentioned above, basically you can think of the US as a huge checkerboard, with vertical and horizontal lines splitting it up. a rectangular system of land survey that divides a district into 24-square mile quadrangles from the meridian (north-south line) and the baseline (east-west line); the tracts are divided into 6-mile-square parts called townships, which are in turn divided into 36 tracts, each 1 mile square, called sections. Since the lines that create them are six miles apart, they are 24 miles around and include an area of 36 square miles, which is 23,040 acres. This system divides the country using 37 principal meridians that run north and south and baselines that run east and west. These range lines form ranges. Range lines are equally located six miles apart, and the columns of land they create are known as ranges. The land can be further divided into even smaller sections by dividing the halves or quarters into smaller halves or quarters. Baselines run parallel to the earths equator, from east to west. Where the two range lines and two township lines intersect, they form a township. Rectangular Government Survey System The rectangular government survey system -also known as the Public Land Survey Because the rectangular or government survey system was instituted when the United States was a new country, it was used to describe most of the land west of the original 13 colonies, so most of you are likely to see some questions about this system.\r\n\r\nLongitude and latitude are imaginary lines that divide the earth through the north and south poles (longitude) and run parallel with the equator (latitude). Imagine trying to draw straight lines on a rubber ball. Sections are numbered from the northeast (top right) corner, running first horizontally to the west and then down and back to the east in a serpentine pattern.