ABSTRACT
Together with the Canadian system, which was started about 1789, an estimated 11% of the earth’s surface is covered by a rectangular survey system (see Figure 2 in the Introduction). On paper, the idea of dividing the country into orderly squares had, and still has, great appeal, but it suffers both logically and physically when the concept is applied to the “round” or spherical earth. Despite the conceptual shortcomings, the rectangular system provided an “instant” primary surveying data base for exploration and settlement, and allowed for an orderly growth that is unparalleled in history. As time progressed and land was further subdivided, metes and bounds surveys were then overlaid as a secondary survey and tied to the rectangular system (see Figure 2 in the Introduction).
