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"The surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall proceed to
divide said territory into townships of 6 miles square, by lines running
due north and south, and others crossing these at right angles, as near
as may be, unless where the boundaries of the late Indian purchases may
render the same impracticable, and then they shall depart from this rule
no further than such particular circumstances may require. ...As soon as
7 ranges of townships and fractional parts of townships, in the
direction from south to north shall have been surveyed, the geographer
shall transmit plats thereof to the board of treasury, who shall record
the same, with the report in well bound books to be kept for that
purpose."
Land Ordinance of 1785 |
This digital
collection is a compilation of the state’s original plat maps drawn by
the U.S. Surveyor General’s Office over the years 1848–1907. The
collection includes later plat maps, up to the year 2001, drawn from
surveys conducted by the General Land Office and the Bureau of Land
Management.
The original public land survey plats were created
during the first government land survey of the state. They serve
as fundamental legal records for real estate, as an essential resource
for surveyors, and as an analytical tool for the state’s physical
geography prior to European settlement. The original public land
survey plats are the official legal land records for Minnesota and all
property titles and descriptions stem from them.
The collection of Plat maps can be viewed at any time by clicking the
"View the collection"
link on navigation bar located on the left-hand side of each screen. You are able to view and download high quality, full color images of the over
3,500 plat maps and associated textual data (tables of meanders appear
on the back of some maps). Each plat map is available as a high
resolution PDF and a lower resolution resampled PDF. The PDF images have
NOT been georeferenced; however, a georeferenced JPG version is
available.
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Find a Plat: Link to plat selection interface
History and Origin: Understand the history of the Public Land Survey System in
Minnesota and the United States
Glossary: Learn about the terminology used
in the Public Land Survey System
Documentation:
Detailed information about how the files were produced, including the georeferenced JPG version.
Ordering/Saving Instructions: Information on how to find,
download, save and print the original PLSS images
Acknowledgements: Discover all the partners involved in serving
these images to the public
Contact Information: List of people to contact with questions or
suggestions about this site
Help: Advanced information on using this site
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UPDATES November 2011:
A georeferenced version of the plat maps in JPG format is now available.
July 2010: A project
to scan, index, and publish Minnesota’s General Land Office Field Notes
is in-progress. Read
more...
July 28, 2009: A correction was made to the image previously
identified as t049r18w5fd04. The principal meridian was incorrectly
identified as the Fifth when in fact it is the Fourth. The new filename
is: t049r18w4fd04
June 6, 2006: 17 map images
were updated and 12 new images were added to the collection!
For more information see:
Mn_PLS_Maps_Update_1.pdf
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These images are the result of an important collaborative effort by the
State Archives of the Minnesota Historical Society, the
Minnesota Department
of Transportation, the Office of the Secretary of State, the Department of
Administration's MnGeo and the Minnesota Association of County
Surveyors. The Minnesota Department of Transportation provided funding for
the digitization of the GLO maps.
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