![\"quarter](\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/real-estate-exam-quarter-section.jpg\")
A quarter section can be split into smaller parts. The government survey system is known by a few different names. Since nothing is perfect, some sections of land ended up being larger or smaller than they should. TRID Guidelines & Compliance Checklist | What is TRID? The area created by the intersection of a township line and a range line is a township. For example, you can say the east of section 3. That means the property is 320 acres and located on the east half of that section. [/caption]\r\n\r\nEach section of 640 acres can be divided into halves and quarters called, get this, half sections and quarter sections. Each section is numbered, starting at the top right corner and going back and forth, left to right, in a serpentine pattern. Running east to west every six miles between the baselines are the township lines. distinguishing among the various surveys. Create your account. Using principal meridians and baselines as points of reference, land areas are divided by two kinds of lines, township lines and range lines. The rectangular survey describes property location as fractions of sections, which are part of townships, and provide distance measurements from principal meridians, base lines and range lines. The north-south line that runs through the initial point is a, ). Additionally, the terms used in the Rectangular Survey System can have different meanings under other systems of measurement and governmental designations. The lines are spaced 24 miles apart, creating squares that are around 576 square miles. You got it: Tic tac toe. We know that there are 640 acres in one section, and we are taking a 1/4 of a 1/2 section. Specific directional references are needed in the actual description to locate a particular piece of property, but for finding out how large a particular piece of property is, only the fractions matter.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_274747\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"556\"]![\"real](\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/real-estate-exam-sections.jpg\")
Sections can be divided in a variety of ways, including quarters and smaller sections. The fifth township south of the baseline and fourth to the west of the principal meridian would be identified as Missouri, Fifth Principal Meridian, Township 5 South, Range 4 West, or Missouri, Fifth Principal Meridian, T5S, R4W. Remember, a township is 6 miles by 6 miles. The rectangular survey system was developed in an effort to try and describe all of the land in our country. Quadrangles have an area of 576 square miles, more or less, and are divided into 16 townships.\r\n \tJohn A. Yoegel, PhD, is a certified real estate instructor and former board member of the Real Estate Educators Association. ","description":"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. Metes and bounds were used as the primary survey method before 1785 and were fairly inaccurate, especially before GPS technology. The boundary of each township is 6 miles long, so a township contains 36 square miles and is described as being 6 miles square. Also known as the rectangular survey system or public land survey system, the government survey system refers to a federal land survey system that uses (north and south lines) meridians and (east and west lines) base lines. Read Also: Government Grants For Commercial Real Estate. Before the Rectangular Survey System was established, the Metes and Bounds survey was the only way of identifying who owned what land. Actual Notice in Real Estate: Types & Examples | What is Actual Notice? 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. Easement Appurtenant Features & Examples | What is an Easement in Real Estate? Sections can be further divided into halves and quarters. is a way of subdividing and describing land in the United States. He teaches pre-licensing and continuing education courses for salespeople, brokers, and appraisers. The land can be further divided into even smaller sections by dividing the halves or quarters into smaller halves or quarters. Townships are identified based on their location to the point of origin where the principal meridian line meets the baseline. He teaches pre-licensing and continuing education courses for salespeople, brokers, and appraisers. To learn more about these land descriptions, view our Real Estate Principles course, which provides information on ethics of practice, titles to and conveyance of real estate, deeds encumbrances and liens, distinctions between personal and real property, appraisal, finance and regulations, and more. Police Power in Real Estate Significance & Examples | What is Police Power? A simple approach to a complex concept, Jeff gives students practical guidance that can be used on any Government Rectangular Survey question. . 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? Although the lines start out the same distance apart, they get closer together as you get near one or the other end of the ball.\r\n\r\nCorrection lines and guide meridians were established to correct this problem in the government survey system. Rectangular Survey System This is also called the section and township system or U.S. Government Section and Township Survey, established in the nineteenth century by the U.S. Surveyor General to survey public lands. After six years of aircrew service in the Air Force, he earned his MBA from the University of Phoenix following a BS from the University of Maryland. The area includes sections (1 mile on each side), townships (6 miles on each side), and quadrangles (24 miles on each side). As mentioned above, basically you can think of the US as a huge checkerboard, with vertical and horizontal lines splitting it up. Rectangular Survey System - Divides land into rectangles - The system is based on two sets of lines - Principal Meridians and Base Lines Principal Meridians - Vertical lines, crossing base line. Where the two range lines and two township lines intersect, they form a township.\r\n\r\nNow, the way it really works is for this page to be filled with the lines going up and down and right to left so that you have many townships. The federal government developed the rectangular survey system, or government survey method, to simplify and standardize property descriptions as a replacement for the cumbersome and often inaccurate metes and bounds method. You may even see a question or two about the numbering system used for sections. The area is further divided into six-mile segments using range lines that run parallel to the principal meridian and township lines that run parallel to the baselines. The legal description can be further described by indicating which directional half or quadrants of the section, as well. 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 provides for a unit of land approximately 24 miles square, bounded by base lines running east and west, and meridians running north and south. 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. The description is abbreviated as T1N, R2E. 1 Square mile is equal to 640 acres. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Of course, this still makes up a lot of land, so townships are further divided into sections. 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. 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. He is also a real estate investor, board gamer and homebrewer. Remember, there are 36 square miles in a township, and each section is 1 square mile. Rectangular Government Survey. The Rectangular Survey Method established a standard measurement and origin point for all properties to follow using a grid system. Pages 336 The section in the bottom left corner, the southwest corner, is section 36. An area bounded on two sides by guide meridians and on the other two sides by correction lines is called a government check, check, or quadrangle, which is 24 miles square, meaning each of its boundaries is 24 miles long.