NORTH CAROLINA PROPERTY MAPPERS ASSOCIATION SECTION 6 PUBLIC LANDS 6-1
6.1 Introduction Following our independence from England, the Congress in 1783 of the newly formed United States of America was faced with an urgent need for a national land policy. They had to devise some way to handle and dispose of the lands it had acquired by the colonial states and larger areas purchased from (or treaty with) native Indians and foreign powers. By the time the Lands West and north of the Ohio River (the Northwest Territories) were opened to settlement in the late 1700 s, the Congress had come up with a way to transfer land to settlers; the Land Ordinance of 1785, otherwise known as the United States Public Land Survey (USPLS). This plan called for the regular and systematic partitioning of areas into easily discernible parcels prior to settlement and required that all grants be recorded. The term public lands is applied broadly to the areas that have been subject to administration, survey, and transfer of title under the public lands laws of the United States since 1785. Thirty states, including Alaska, constitute the public land survey states which have been, or will be, subdivided in rectangular tracts. The area of these states represents approximately 72 percent of the United States. See Figure 6-1. Figure 6-1 Areas covered by the public-lands surveys, with principal meridians shown. Areas excluded are shaded. (Hawaii, although not shown on this map, would also be shaded. Texas has a rectangular system similar to the U.S. public land system.) 6-2
The survey and disposition of the public lands were governed originally by two factors: 1. A recognition of the value of grid system subdivision based on experience in the colonies and another large-scale systematic boundary survey the 1656 Down Survey in Ireland. 2. The need of the colonies for revenue from the sale of public land. Monetary returns from their disposal were disappointing, but the planner's farsighted vision of a grid system of subdivision deserves commendation. In general, the procedure in surveying the public lands provides for the following subdivisions: 1. Division in quadrangles (tracts) approximately 24 miles square. 2. Division of quadrangles in township (16), approximately 6 miles square. 3. Division of townships into sections (36), approximately 1 mile square. It will be helpful to keep in mind that the purpose of the grid system was to obtain sections 1 mile on each side. To this end, surveys proceeded from south to north and east to west, and all discrepancies were thrown into the sections bordering the north and west township boundaries to get as many regular sections as possible. 6-3
6.2 Initial Point The first step in implementing the USPLS was to arbitrarily select an initial point. This initial point was established and located by astronomical observations. A principal meridian and base line were passed through each initial point. The parallel is called the base line and runs east and west. The intersecting meridian is called the principal meridian, running north and south. Range line were then surveyed along meridians at six mile intervals north and south of the base line, and township lines were surveyed along parallels at six-mile intervals east and west of the principal meridian. The six mile by six mile squares bounded by these intersecting township and range lines were called survey or congressional townships. A principal meridian and base line were passed through each initial point, such as the one in the center of Figure 6-2. Figure 6-2 The public land system. 6-4
6.3 Correction Lines One problem that had to be overcome in using the rectangular grid system is that the earth is a spheroid. A square township grid could not be extended indefinitely outward from the initial survey point without being distorted. Also, since the effect of meridional convergence is additive, the trouble got worse with increasing distance east and west of the principal meridian. Therefore, standard parallels were established along township lines, and guide meridians along range lines. 6.4 Baseline Standard parallels (correction lines) after the principal meridian and base line have been run, standard parallels (Stan., Par., or SP), also called correction lines are run as true parallels of latitude 24 miles apart in the same manner as the base line; examples are first standard parallel north and third standard parallel south. 6.5 Guide Meridians Guide Meridians (GM) are run north from the base line and the standard parallels at intervals of 24 miles east and west of the principal meridian in the same manner as was the principal meridian and with the same limit of error. Because meridians converge, a closing corner (CC) is set at the intersection of each guide meridian and standard parallel or base line. 6.6 Designation of Townships North and south rows of townships are called ranges and numbered in consecutive order east and west of the principal meridian. East and west rows of townships are named tiers and numbered in order north and south of the base line. By common practice, the term tier is usually replaced by the township in designating the rows. An individual township is identified by its number north or south of the base line, followed by the number east or west of the principal meridian. An example is Township 7 South, Range 19 East, of the Sixth Principal Meridian. Abbreviated, this becomes T 75, R 19 E, 6th PM. 6-5
6.7 Subdivisions of a Township into Sections Next each township was partitioned into 36 square mile parcels of 640 acres, called sections. Every section was given a number from 1 to 36, depending on its position within the township. The first surveys, covering parts of Ohio, were made in compliance with the Ordinance of May 20, 1785. This ordinance stated that Section No. 1 commence in the southeast corner of the township and running from south to north in each sequence to No. 36 in the northwest corner of the township. The Act of May 18, 1796 changed the number sequence to what we know today. Sections are numbered from 1 to 36, beginning in the northeast corner of a township and ending in the southeast corner as shown in figure 6-3. Figure 6-3 Township and Sections were a compromise between the North and the South: the North wanted smaller tracts that would be available to the common man, whereas the Southern Plantation owners thought more in terms of thousands of acres. The 640-acre unit was 6-6
thought to be within the reach of homesteaders and small farmers. 6.8 Fractional Sections The accuracy in the early surveying and staking of the Public Land System was very low. This was due primarily to the following: 1. Lack of trained personnel 2. Very poor equipment by today's standards 3. Surveys made in piecemeal fashion 4. Marauding Indians, swarms of insects, dangerous animals and reptiles Because of errors the Act of May 10, 1800 was approved, placing excess or deficiency in the north and west tiers of sections. Another reason the act was passed is that even when the original surveyors had an official plan with detailed instructions for its layout; and presumably set corners, to the best of their ability, errors did occur. Some surveyors were paid by the total miles surveyed, not on its accuracy, which contributed to the number of errors. Parcels excesses and deficiencies resulting from survey errors were not the only obstacles in the way regular land partitioning. The pinching effect of converging meridians further justified putting errors to the western and northern tiers of sections within each township. Since the errors, due to the curvature of the earth got worse the further you got from the initial point, a new initial point was created, extending and repeating the grid system all over again. The result is a lot of different grid systems, which, at the point they meet, rarely mesh. In the zones of contact between these clashing systems, some confusing land descriptions exist. Irregardless of the errors, after titled passed from the United States the established corners (monuments) became the legal and lawful ones. Therefore, if monuments have disappeared, the purpose of re-surveys is to determine where they were; not where they should have been. Correcting mistakes or errors now would disrupt too many accepted property lines and result in an unmanageable number of lawsuits. 6.9 Descriptions Descriptions by the U.S. public land sectional system offer a means of defining boundaries uniquely, clearly, and concisely. The correct order of reference of legally describing property for transfer should begin with the smallest and proceed to the largest. Reading descriptions of this type is simplified by following the description backwards, as for example: The E1/2 of the SW1/4 of the SE1/4" would be visualized as the SE quarter first, then the SW quarter of the SE quarter next, and then the east half of the last visualized parcel. 6-7
6.10 Conclusions While much credit is given to Thomas Jefferson as head of the task committee that drafted the ordinance establishing a land office for the United States and The Ordinance of 1785, the rectangular system in America is not a new concept. As previously mentioned, it was based on the Down Survey in Ireland. Egyptians were also known to use a rectangular system in the Nile Valley. Thirty states, including Alaska, constitute the public land survey states which have been, or will be, subdivided in rectangular tracts. The area of these states represents approximately 72 percent of the United States. 6.11 Nomenclature for Portions of Sections 6-8
Exercise 6-1 Plot the following description: NE ¼ of the SE ¼ of the SE ¼ section 9, Township 16 N, range 2 W of the Principal Meridian. 6-9
Solution 6-1 Plot the following description: NE ¼ of the SE ¼ of the SE ¼ section 9, Township 16 N, range 2 W of the Principal Meridian. 6-10
Exercise 6-2 Plot the following description: N ½ of the S ½ of SW ¼ of NW ¼ section 15 Township 3N, range 4 W of the principal meridian. 6-11
Solution 6-2 Plot the following description: N ½ of the S ½ of SW ¼ of NW ¼ section 15 Township 3N, range 4 W of the principal meridian. 6-12
Exercise 6-3 Plot the following description: SW ¼ and the W ½ of W ½ of SE ¼ and the E ½ of the S ½ of the W ½ of SE ¼ and the NE ¼ of SE ¼ of Section 8, Township 6 N, range 5 W of the principal meridian. 6-13
Solution 6-3 Plot the following description: SW ¼ and the W ½ of W ½ of SE ¼ and the E ½ of the S ½ of the W ½ of SE ¼ and the NE ¼ of SE ¼ of Section 8, Township 6 N, range 5 W of the principal meridian. 6-14