What is meant by Township and Range?
The Public Land Survey System, often known as just “PLSS”, was developed in the early 19th century in the western and midwestern United States and in western Canada to describe the location of parcels of land. A north-south line known as the prime meridian and an east-west line known as a baseline were defined and surveyed in each state. Lines that are six miles apart were surveyed on either side of the prime meridian and the baseline, forming a grid of 6 mile by 6 mile blocks across the state. Townships are rows numbered north and south of the baseline, and ranges are columns numbered east and west of the prime meridian. Each 36 square mile block is further subdivided into one square mile sections. The one square mile sections can be divided into quarters for further refinement of the location of certain features, such as oil wells.
