MAGM 230 Field Surveying

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MAGM 230Field Surveying
Legal Descriptions
Mr. Conrado
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Early Land Descriptions

• Used natural objects
• Easy to identify
• Changed
• Relied mainly on memory.
• As land value increased so did importance of
  permanent markers and official records.

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Property Boundaries

• Now transferred by documents called deeds.
• Deeds contain legal description of property
  boundaries.
• Sources for boundary descriptions
• Deeds
• Official Plots
• Notes of Original Surveys

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Property Boundaries

• Records of land transfers are kept in
• Town Clerks Office or
• County Registry of Deeds
• Exact copies are kept in Deeds Books
• Free to be examined by anyone.

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Rectangular System of Land Survey

• Townships are located with reference to a true
  north-south line called a principle meridian and
  an east west line true parallel of latitude
  called a base line.
• Where a principal crosses the base line it is
  called the initial point.

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Rectangular System of Land Survey

• The united states is divided into 35 regions for
  survey purposes.
• Each region has an initial point serving as the
  origin for all public land surveys.
• The various initial points base lines and
  principle meridians are designated by a name
  assigned to the principle meridian.

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Rectangular System of Land Development

• Principal meridians located in California-
• Humboldt
• Mt. Diablo
• San Bernardino

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Land Subdivision

• The next step in land subdivision is the
  placement of standard parallels and guide
  meridians.
• Standard parallels
• Spaced every 24 miles north and south of
  baseline.
• Are designed in relationship to the baseline.
• ie first standard parallel north second standard
  parallel north

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Land Subdivision

• Guide Meridians
• Spaced every 24 miles east and west of principle
  meridian.
• Are also designed in relation to principle
  meridian.
• ie first guide meridian east

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Land Subdivision

• Townships
• Each 24 square mile tract is divided into 16
  townships by locating range lines every 6 miles
  and tier lines every 6 miles in parallel with
  the latitude lines
• A series of townships running east and west is
  called a Tier.
• A series of townships running north and south is
  called a Range.

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Townships

• Tiers are consecutively numbered north and south
  of the baseline.
• Ranges are likewise numbered east and west of the
  principle meridian.
• Therefore townships are designated by the serial
  number of its tier and north and south and by the
  range serial number east or west.
• ie T3N
• R3W
• Tier 3 north of base line range 3 west of
  principle meridian.

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Section

• A section is one township divided into one square
  mile sections (640 acres)
• Sections are numbered 1-36 starting in the
  northeast corner of the township.

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Section

• Sections then can be divided into as many smaller
  tracts as necessary.
• Legal descriptions always begin with the smallest
  unit.
• Ie the SW1/4. NE1/4, SW1/4, Section 9, township
  3N range 3 west, of the Humbolt Meridian.

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Homework