Section 16 is located directly in the center of the section and historically was always designated as the school section. Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. You may even see a question or two about the numbering system used for sections. How many rows in a survey of sections of a township? True of False - When land is mapped on the rectangular survey system, you locate the parcel by reading the directions from left to right. Yes, but first you need to know the dimensions and measurements of a township. Title Theory State | Rights, Differences & Purpose. Correction lines occur at every fourth township line or every 24 miles north and south of the baseline. The Rectangular Survey System is used for surveying land for sale and settling, along with the Metes and Bounds survey method. The Rectangular Survey Method established a standard measurement and origin point for all properties to follow using a grid system. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Livable, Rentable & Usable Area: Definition & Examples. Only about half of the state in the U.S. use the rectangular survey system. Remember 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. \"https://sb\" : \"http://b\") + \".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\";el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el);})();\r\n","enabled":true},{"pages":["all"],"location":"footer","script":"\r\n\r\n","enabled":false},{"pages":["all"],"location":"header","script":"\r\n","enabled":false},{"pages":["article"],"location":"header","script":" ","enabled":true},{"pages":["homepage"],"location":"header","script":"","enabled":true},{"pages":["homepage","article","category","search"],"location":"footer","script":"\r\n\r\n","enabled":true}]}},"pageScriptsLoadedStatus":"success"},"navigationState":{"navigationCollections":[{"collectionId":287568,"title":"BYOB (Be Your Own Boss)","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/for-the-entry-level-entrepreneur-287568"},{"collectionId":293237,"title":"Be a Rad 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How to P-R-E-P-A-R-E for the Real Estate License Exam, Real Estate License Exam: 10 Things to Find Out About State Real Estate Law, How to Make Mortgage Calculations without a Fancy Calculator, Real Estate License Exam: Measuring Area and Volume, Real Estate License Exams For Dummies Cheat Sheet. (The figure below shows a variety of divisions in a quarter section. The legal description includes the state name, the meridian name, the township and range directions, and usually the section number. 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. Novation in Real Estate | Novation of Contract. It isn't used by East Coast states except, Florida, and it also isn't used by Texas. Baselines run parallel to the earths equator, from east to west. 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. For the real estate exam, youll need to know the two primary survey methods. The Rectangular Survey System, also known as the Government Survey System or Public Land Survey System, is a method of plotting land boundaries in the United States using a large grid made up of rectangles. 1. [/caption]\r\n\r\nA full rectangular survey system property description might read:\r\n

The SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 6, Township 4 South, Range 5, East of the Third Principal Meridian. 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. Just because they are referred to as government lots does not mean the government owns the land they contain. Definition of "Government rectangular survey". 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. Constructive Notice in Real Estate Overview & Law | What is Constructive Notice? It is considered as one of the most significant subdividing of the United States mainland. It was originally proposed by President Thomas Jefferson and is sometimes referred to as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). Also, the meets and bounds system is used to describe land by listing the compass directions and distances of the boundaries. 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. For instance, a quarter section always contains 160 acres, or a fourth of the total 640 acres in a section. (This description refers to a 10-acre parcel of land. 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.. The Rectangular Survey System is a grid system of townships and sections that is used to divide the land into manageable units. The smallest division in this system is usually 10-acre quarters. Surveyed land was sold by the government, providing important revenue for the cash-starved nation. For example, a piece of land could be identified as the southeast quarter of section 18 of a township, which would be 160 acres. The numbering changes directions in the third tier from right to left. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. You may even see a question or two about the numbering system used for sections. 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. Since the earth is not flat like a checkerboard, there needed to be some adjustments made along the way to make sure everything worked out. Then the numbering drops down to 13 and goes right to left again and so forth:

\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_274749\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"532\"] Townships are divided into 36 sections numbered consecutively. Way in which the U.S. government uses to subdivide public land. 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? The PLSS is actually a series of surveys that divide land into townships that are six miles. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. The system uses Metes, which are straight lines connecting two points, and Bounds, which are identifiable aspects of a property. There are 37 principal meridians in the national survey, which are referred to when. Some data is missing in this version that is included in the old version. The system is also relatively easy to understand, as it is basically a single grid laid over the land. ( the major vertical line) -37 in the U.S. Base Line The horizontal line ( the major one) Ranges 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. So, you can refer to the south (S) 1/2 of the northwest (NW) 1/4 of a section in a township, for example. 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

Quarter sections: The divisions of a section, quarter sections, are formed by dividing a section into fourths that are delineated by their direction from the center of the section (northwestNW, northeastNE, southeastSE, and southwestSW). The system is based on the principle of surveying the land from a fixed point, called a baseline, and . Now known as the Public Land Survey System, this system divided the western lands into grid-shaped townships and sections. Its worth noting; quadrangles are not used when identifying land with the rectangular survey method, only the principal meridians, baselines, and townships and sections.