Unit 9 - Legal Descriptions Flashcards
Air Lot
A designated airspace over a piece of land. An air lot, like surface property, may be transferred.
Base Line
The main imaginary line running east and west and crossing a principal meridian at a definite point, used by surveyors for reference in locating and describing land under the rectangular (government) survey system of legal description.
Benchmark
A permanent reference mark or point established for use by surveyors in measuring differences in elevation.
Correction Line
Provisions in the rectangular survey (government survey) system made to compensate for the curvature of the earth’s surface. Every fourth township line (at 24-mile intervals) is used as a correction line on which the intervals between the north and south range lines are remeasured and corrected to a full six miles.
datum
A horizontal plane from which heights and depths are measured.
Fractional Section
A parcel of land less than 160 acres, usually found at the edge of a rectangular survey.
Government Check
The 24-mile-square parcels composed of 16 townships in the rectangular survey system of legal description.
Government Lot
Fractional sections in the rectangular survey system that are less than one quarter-section in area.
Legal Description
A description of a specific parcel of real estate complete enough for an independent surveyor to locate and identify it.
Lot-and-block System
A method of describing real property that identifies a parcel of land by reference to lot and block numbers within a subdivision, as specified on a recorded subdivision plat. Also called the recorded plat system.
Metes-and-bounds Method
A legal description of a parcel of land that begins at a well-marked point and follows the boundaries, using directions and distances around the tract, back to the point of beginning.
Monument
A fixed natural or artificial object used to establish real estate boundaries for a metes-and-bounds description.
Plat Map
A map of a town, section, or subdivision indicating the location and boundaries of individual properties. Also called a subdivision plat.
Point Of Beginning (POB)
In a metes-and-bounds legal description, the starting point of the survey, situated in one corner of the parcel. All metes-and-bounds descriptions must follow the boundaries of the parcel back to the point of beginning.
Principal Meridian
The main imaginary line running north and south and crossing a base line at a definite point, used by surveyors for reference in locating and describing land under the rectangular (government) survey system of legal description.
Range
A strip of land six miles wide, extending north and south and numbered east and west according to its distance from the principal meridian in the rectangular (government) survey system of legal description.
Rectangular Survey System
System established in 1785 by the federal government, providing for surveying and describing land by reference to principal meridians and base lines. Also called the government survey system.
Section
A portion of a township under the rectangular (government) survey system. A township is divided into 36 sections, numbered 1 through 36. A section is a square with mile-long sides and an area of one square mile, or 640 acres.
Survey
The process by which boundaries are measured and land areas are determined; the onsite measurement of lot lines, dimensions, and position of a house on a lot, including the determination of any existing encroachments or easements.
Township
The principal unit of the rectangular (government) survey system. A township is a square with six-mile sides and an area of 36 square miles.
Township Line
The lines in a rectangular survey system that run east and west, parallel to the base line six miles apart.
Township Tier
Township lines that form strips of land and are designated by consecutive numbers north or south of the base line.
Which is smaller, a Section or a Township?
A Section is smaller
How many Acres in a Section
640 Acres
Township dimensions
6 miles x 6 miles = 36 Sections per Township
Section Dimensions
1 mile x 1 mile = 1 square mile
How many feet in an acre?
43,560 square feet per acre (4 old ladies driving 35 in a 60)
How many feet in a mile (one side)
5,280 feet in a mile (one side of a section)
