This section provides information on surveying and an overview of the public land survey system plss in wisconsin. This dataset represents the gis version of the public land survey system including both rectangular and nonrectangular surveys. All logos are used with permission of the doi and blm. Public land survey system plss provide, for each of the 105 counties in kansas, high quality digital representations of basic kansas land divisions originally established primarily between the years of 1854 and 1877. Review the original government field survey notes of tippecanoe county indiana for the public land survey system.
The public lands are laid off, in the first place, into bodies of land of six miles square. Blm national public land survey system polygons national. The public land survey system plss has a profound affect on how society operates in wisconsin. The township and range lines are part of the congressional survey system, also known as the public land survey system. Public land survey system plss was established shortly after the revolutionary war as a way to describe and record parcels of land for legal purposes.
The public land survey system the public land survey system plss, regulated by the u. The following is a list of charges for the public land survey office plso products and research services. Each grid cell represents approximately 36 square miles the measurements were not always precise due to the instruments the surveyors were using, among other limitations. History of the public land survey system in minnesota and the united states. Became a state, january 4, 1896 survey recordsstate officesalt lake city. The website also provides access to the federal blm records system such as the alaska case retrieval enterprise system acres, master title plats, federal. The author fully covers past, present, and proposed land survey systems, tracing the evolution of standard procedures of the united states public land system from 1785 through the most recent revision of the manual of instructions in 1973 to the newest proposals for change. A land surveying professional is called a land surveyor. The public land survey system plss and other special surveys within, and.
Vernon county has scanned and converted into digital format a significant volume of maps and information regularly used by professional land surveyors working in the county. Here you can access survey control finder for statewide geodetic control stations, plss corners, and cors data for wisconsin. Displays townships, sections, and quarterquarter sections western states have quarterquarters mapped, central states do not. The plss is the fundamental way that almost all of the states land was first systematically marked, divided, and described, and remains the basis for. This data, which is the most uniform and complete snapshot of the landscape of the west, is a great resource. Plss cadnsdi data set availability october 2019 the table below provides a link to the zipped. Department of interior, bureau of land management blm publication date. Nov 18, 2011 originally established in 1785 by the land ordinance, after the revolutionary war, and further refined in 1851 by the general land office now, the bureau of land management, the public land survey system plss is still the primary legal definition of most property in the united states. Department of the interior, bureau of land management blm. Introduction and origins of the public land survey system. Manz the public land survey system plss is a legal reference system designed to describe and facilitate the sale of land. Public land survey townships are named by the township and range numbering system. Public land surveys in indiana territory after governor harrison acquired the first treaty lands from the indians, the u. This is the public land survey system foundation plssf website hosted by the national.
These points are usually on the surface of the earth, and they are often used to establish maps and boundaries for ownership, locations, such as. The publiciand survey system covers a11 of the continental united states except the original thirteen. In louisiana, parcels of land known as arpent sections or french arpent land grants also predate the plss, but are treated as plss sections. The public land survey system modernization of the public. This map is derived from gis geospatial information system data.
The public land survey system plss, regulated by the u. For example, the description above would be read the. 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. Department of the interior, bureau of land management, is a method used to subdivide and describe land parcels. Ohio lands ohio occupies a unique place in the development of the public lands of the united states. When the land was first surveyed in wisconsin, it was divided into a grid as shown in figure 1. Manual of instructions for the survey of the public lands of. This grid system is known as the public land survey system plss. A brief history of the public land surveys in minnesota. Generally, land is divided into townships that are 36 square miles in size, each square mile being called a section. Layers of geospatial data include orthoimagery, roads, grids, geographic names, elevation contours, hydrography, and other selected map features. This data includes township, range, section first division, and intersected. Congress enacted various public land laws to accomplish these disposals.
Public land states thirty 30 states have been created out of the public domain. Public land survey system jim mccavitt, pls bureau of land management introduction the united states public land survey system plss began with the land ordinance of 1785. The public land survey system study guide 4 of 34 the rectangular survey system is basically a grid of lines based upon a true meridian and is originated from an initial point. Subdivision of sections california state polytechnic. The revolutionary war had left the fledgling united. Public land survey system plss the public land survey system plss is the surveying method used in the united states to divide real property. A monument marking the site known as the beginning point of the u. Each township has a township number, which indicates its northsouth position of the base line, and a range number, which indicates its eastwest position of the meridian. Cadastral surveyor, presents in this document a meticulous accounting of the vast story of public land surveying. Often finding an appropriate base layer is vital to providing a solid foundation for this process.
The user has the ability to search by section, township, and range, download selected areas andor print maps of the land survey information within. To begin the grid, the surveyor establishes an initial point from which to begin surveying. The public land survey system plss was established by the land ordinance of 1785, and the first nationwide official manual was distributed in 1855. The user has the ability to search by section, township, and range, download selected areas andor print maps of the land survey information within a webbased map application. The original government land survey that established and set monuments for the public land survey sections in vernon county was originally performed from 1839 thru 1852. The public land survey system plss part 1 figure 1. The public land survey system of the united states author. Today the bureau of land management maintains the survey as a way to accurately categorize large areas of the continental us. The general land office, predecessor to the present day bureau of land management blm, was established to oversee the surveying and disposal of the public lands. The public land survey system plss is a way of subdividing and describing land in the united states. The rectangular survey system is basically a grid of lines based upon a true meridian and. No other state experienced so many different systems of original land survey.
A history of the rectangular survey system bureau of land. According to renishaw plc, laser scanning is not only used in land surveying but is being adopted in more and more industries, since it gives detailed, accurate data, very quickly, and with fewer manpower requirements, saving companies costs. This data set represents the gis version of the public land survey system including both rectangular and nonrectangular surveys. The fifth principal meridian governs the surveys of all or part of six states shown in green. Tutorial on the public land survey system descriptions. Other irregular town sites came into being, prior to subdivision surveys in the area, around trading posts and military establishments. The primary source for the data is cadastral survey records housed by the blm supplemented with local records and geographic control coordinates from states, counties as well as other federal agencies such as the usgs and usfs. In this spirit, ive been working on the digitization of the basic public land survey system plss, or the cadastral map series for both portland and seattle from the 1850s as base maps for the hidden hydrology studies of both cities. This information consists of public land survey system plss tie sheets, plat of survey maps, plss government plat maps, 1967 corp of engineer maps for the kickapoo valley flood control project, 1896 amp 1931 plat book.
In 1785, the continental congress adopted an ordinance setting up a survey system for the public domain lands. The ordinance provided for the systematic survey and monumentation of the federal lands into townships and sections. What we refer to today as the public land survey system plss began with the land ordinance of 1785. The public land survey system modernization of the. Rectangular survey system is typically, and yet somewhat uniquely, a record of the american frontier spirit blended with the concept of government for the people. Non public land states 18 eastern states, district of columbia, hawaii and texas utahceded by mexico in 1848, and became part of the united states. It is regulated by the bureau of land management blm. This data set is optimized for data publication and sharing rather than for specific production or operation and maintenance.
The system has been in general use since the land ordinance of. Land surveying and plss topics state cartographers. Pdf version modified from scans by national technical. The land records search portal assists the user in locating, researching and verifying ownership, land use and authorizations on state land and water owned or managed by the state of alaska. Bureau of land management, oregon state office comments. Blm national public land survey system polygons national geospatial data asset ngda other citation details. As the first state formed out of the public domain, ohio was the social laboratory in which congress worked out not only the basic federal rectangular survey.
The original public land survey plats were created during the first government land survey of the state. The public lands of the united states are ordinarily surveyed into rectangular tracts, bounded by lines conforming to the cardinal points. Formerly managed by the general land office glo the plss is today regulated by the us department of the interior, bureau of land management blm. Sections were often divided into halfsections 320 acres, quarter. Hover over the empty search box to see the format example. To make it even worse, the system did admirably what it was designed to do, to allow the government.
State boundaries o plss ownship 1 plss section 2 plss intersected 3 description. An arpent is a french measurement of approximately 192 feet, and a square arpent also referred to as an arpent is about 0. How to display the blms public land survey system plss. In this system, land is divided into pieces called townships that are generally 6 miles on a side and contain 36 sections. All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by this rectangular system of surveys, which is regulated by the bureau of land management blm. Individual county databases are derived from data contained in plss. For use in land orders, executive orders, proclamations, federal register. Manual of instructions for the survey of the public lands. Land management, is a method used to subdivide and. All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by this rectangular system of surveys, which is regulated by the u. Blm national public land survey system legend all layers and ables dynamic legend dynamic all layers layers. Public land survey system definition the public land survey system plss is a method used in the united states to locate and identify land, particularly for titles and deeds of farm or rural land. The public land survey office plso is a section within the washington state department of natural resources that collects, preserves and indexes land survey records and issues permits for removing survey monuments.
Became a state, january 4, 1896 survey recordsstate officesalt lake city records from original 1855 to the present are in our plat room. Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art and science of determining the terrestrial or threedimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. The public land survey system plss part 2 lorraine a. The system is in use in all states except the first, vermont, texas, and hawaii. Apr 08, 2020 this dataset represents the gis version of the public land survey system including both rectangular and nonrectangular surveys. The blm or public land survey system plss map service represents township, range, section, special surveys and federal land ownership within oregon and washington.
Maptitude public land survey system plss data the land ordinance of 1785 established the public land survey system, also known as the township and range system. Plssfinder tm is a free application that enables users to download up to 9 townships of blmbased public land survey grid in an esri. Land surveying and plss topics state cartographers office. The town site boundaries are surveyed, closed, and tied in with the public land system. Public land survey which served as the basis for the entire public land survey system. Source data were received from all or some of the blm state offices of alaska. Users should always check with the data steward for any updates to the dataset. Blm national public land survey system is the basis for federal land ownership. The collection includes later plat maps, up to the year 2001, drawn from surveys conducted by the general land office and the bureau of land management. 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. An example of a legal description using the plss is given below.
Stewardship model for the public land survey system fgdc. Cultural history the united states public land survey. The method of survey that divides north dakota into an orderly array of rectangular parcels like these near northwood bottom left in grand forks county predates the u. Public land statistics 2018 bureau of land management. Erected in 1881 by a joint commission of ohio and pennsylvania surveyors, the monument was declared a national historic landmark in 1966. Our public land survey system is such an intricate part of our culture that any critique of it comes close to the condemnation of motherhood and apple pie. The office helps fulfill the states responsibility to provide a means to identify and preserve survey points that describe common land boundaries, and. The public land survey system or plss is the public infrastructure that forms the basis for defining all property ownership and property rights throughout the county. The manual has guided the original surveys and resurveys of the public lands through the general land office, and since 1946 the bureau of land.
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