Each half or quarter section can be further subdivided into halves and quarters. 1 Square mile is equal to 640 acres. Many plans have been made on how to subdivide the public domain lands. The rectangular survey or government survey describes. It can be a quick and relatively straightforward way of dividing large areas of land into manageable, legally identifiable sections from the very large to the fairly small. 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. Each half or quarter section can be further subdivided into halves and quarters. The Rectangular Survey System is a means of dividing and measuring large areas of land. The principal meridians are not located in equal distances from one another. 2021 KnowYourGovernment.netContact us: [emailprotected], Introduction to administration of Web Survey System Part 2, Estimating a weighted average CSR2 in Iowa using the USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey, How To Find Lost Money From The Government, What Is The Interest Rate On Government Student Loans, Local Government Federal Credit Union App, When Is Open Enrollment For Government Healthcare, Government Grants For Commercial Real Estate, Government Regulations For Nonprofit Organizations, Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory, Energy Efficient Windows Government Grants, Mortgage Loans For Federal Government Employees, Free Government Foreclosure Listings With Pictures. Baselines run parallel to the earths equator, from east to west. Join over 10,000 subscribers and pass your exam today! A government check represents an area that measures 576 square miles.\r\n\r\nRemember that although these correction lines and guide meridians are the way the government deals with the issue of the earths curvature, it isnt the way the government survey system describes land. 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. The Rectangular Survey System is a method of surveying designed to divide the real property into specified plots. A system of fractional sections and government lots are parts of standard practice to account for these discrepancies.\r\n\r\nSo how does the system describe land? In reality, because of this earth curvature issue, many sections and townships vary from their exact area measurements. The north-south line that runs through the initial point is a, ). Think about two more lines running up and down the page on top of the first two lines, also about an inch apart. 276 lessons So, you can refer to the south (S) 1/2 of the northwest (NW) 1/4 of a section in a township, for example. The Metes and bounds system dates back centuries to the original 13 colonies, while the rectangular survey method was established in 1785 and used in all 36 states formed after that point. There are 37 principal meridians in the national survey, which are referred to when. The rectangular survey system was enacted by the Land Ordinance Act of 1785. 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. In the survey method, there has to be the creation of an initial point. The numbering changes directions in the third tier from right to left. It uses the 37 principal meridian lines that run north to south across the U.S. and baselines that run east to west. For the real estate exam, youll need to know the two primary survey methods. Guide meridians run north to south, parallel with principal meridians. Police Power in Real Estate Significance & Examples | What is Police Power? Sections can be further divided into halves and quarters. Learn the basic methodology, and real-world adjustments. Doing the math, its 1/2 1/4 640 = 80 acres.

Figuring out the size of a piece of property, which sometimes is called a parcel, is simple, if you keep in mind that youre always dealing with a section of 640 acres. The rectangular survey system devised for the PLSS is often credited to Thomas Jefferson. As we mentioned earlier, two primary survey methods are used in the United States, the Metes and Bounds System, and the Rectangular Survey System. A government check represents an area that measures 576 square miles.\r\n\r\nRemember that although these correction lines and guide meridians are the way the government deals with the issue of the earths curvature, it isnt the way the government survey system describes land. The land can be further divided into even smaller sections by dividing the halves or quarters into smaller halves or quarters. The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the surveying method developed and used in the United States to plat, or divide, real property for sale and settling.Also known as the Rectangular Survey System, it was created by the Land Ordinance of 1785.. Standard parallels run east to west along with the baseline. There may also be questions about how much land is in a specific plot or section. Simply multiply 640 by or 0.25, which equals 160, then multiply 160 by 1/2 or 0.5, which equals 80. The three legal real estate land descriptions are important information that all real estate agents and brokers must understand to pass their real estate exam and receive their license. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. It uses imaginary lines to set land descriptions on thedistance: base lines run east-west and meridians run north-south. How Do Metes and Bounds Differ From the Rectangular Survey System? All rights reserved. The government rectangular survey method is a legal description for land. However, in some areas of the country, a township refers to a legal municipality rather than a geographic area, which can lead to some confusion. The Rectangular Survey System provides for a unit of land approximately 24 miles square, bounded by base lines running east and west, and meridians running north and south. A Metes and Bounds survey may read something like commencing from the large apple tree 1 mile to the north, west along the river bed. It made sense since it was centrally located. The numbering changes directions in the third tier from right to left. Range lines are equally located six miles apart, and the columns of land they create are known as ranges. 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. Sections can be divided in several ways, but basically for purposes of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), they are divided in quarter sections.\r\n \t