PLSS map

www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/.../twp/rangemap.htm

The above map is a map of Harrison county in Iowa and is a great example of the Public Land Survey System, or PLSS. This mapping technique is a way in which the U.S. sought to map the land of America in a systematic ways in order to divide land owned by the government into public use. This map shows how the main unit of division is a square and that there are major lines, both horizontally and vertically, as well as smaller lines that divide the large parcels up into smaller ones that are finally used for other services.