Land survey plats: Worksheets, [1857] - [1907].

ArchivalResource

United States. Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota. Land survey plats: Worksheets, [1857] - [1907].

Land survey plats: Worksheets, [1857] - [1907].

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/247954971

Plat worksheets (1663 worksheets, including 90 duplicates and 31 miscellaneous worksheets) of Minnesota's interior township boundaries made by the surveyor general's office from deputy surveyor's field notes. After the external boundaries of townships were surveyed, the surveyor general's office contracted for surveys of the interior lines, or subdivisions. Information was then compiled from the exterior and interior plat worksheets to make the official set originally held by the Secretary of State. The subdivision worksheets show survey reference points, calculations, and distances at each section corner and quarter-section corner. They indicate the physical features of the land, such as fields, roads and streams, as well as the type of plant cover within the sections. Because these are worksheets and not final versions, many plats show corrections, notes and unofficial drawings in the margins. As well, worksheets occasionally show cartographic details not found on the official plats; for example, landowner's names, American Indian words, location of survey camps, etc. The miscellaneous folder includes strips of cut worksheets of boundary lines for several checks, which are a combination of Standard Parallels and Guide Meridians (predetermined latitudinal and longitudinal lines), and plat drawings of several American Indian reservation boundaries. The exterior lines of the townships were surveyed first to establish outlines of the townships. When this work was completed, a crew of surveyors under a different contract would do the work of running the section lines, or interior lines, to subdivide the township into thirty-six sections. The names of these surveyors can almost always be seen on the lower left corner of the worksheet, often with the year surveyed. Their autograph is central to determining if the worksheet contains subdivision information, as the surveyor's names can be compared to the subdivision surveyors listed on the official GLO plats.

3.0 cu. ft. (2 oversize boxes).

Minnesota Historical Society Library