Research Tip – Measuring Land

In America, there are two methods to measure land: metes and bounds and the rectangular survey system.

Metes and Bounds

This system is used in the original thirteen colonies and most Eastern states. The following twenty states use this system to measure land:
Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia.

This method refers to markers and measurements. For example, “Beginning at a large oak tree and extending north thirty yards to a large rock, then extending west….” Each element of the description of the property boundary typically contains three parts: an object or location, a compass direction, and a distance.

Rectangular Survey System

This system of land measurement was first authorized by the Congressional Land Act of 1785 and supplemented by the Federal Land Act of 1796.

Sections in a Township	Divisions of a Section
Some Common Land Measurements
1 chain = 100 links 4 rods/poles/perches 0.10 furlong 1/80th mile 22 yards 66 feet 1 link = 7.92 inches 1 furlong = 10 chains 1006 links 40 rods/poles/perches 1/8th mile 664 feet 1 rod/pole/perch = 0.25 chains 0.025 furlongs 0.003125 miles 16.5 feet 1 mile = 80 chains 1,760 yards 5,280 feet 320 rods/poles/perches 8 furlongs 1 league = 13,889 feet square 4,428.4 acres 1 acre = 160 rods square 10 square chains 43,560 square feet 4,840 square yards 1 arpent = 0.84 acre 36,590 square feet 4,066 square yards
(All measurements are approximate.)

Last modified: 23-Jun-2016 16:22