History Notes- - Waseca County Historical Society

The Townships: 150 Years of Grassroots Government
Alton, Blooming Grove, Byron, Freedom, Iosco, Janesville, New Richland,
Otisco, St. Mary, Vivian, Wilton, Woodville
"The surveyors, as they are respectively qualified,
shall proceed to divide said territory into townships of
six 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
seven 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."
he rectangular survey system was enacted by the
T Land Ordinance Act of 1787. Now known as the
Public Land Survey System, this system divided the western
lands into grid-shaped townships and sections. Surveyed
land was sold by the government, providing important
revenue for the cash-starved nation. Previous to the
Public Land Survey System, land was surveyed using a
confusing landmark-based system called metes and
bounds. The Public Land Survey System is coordinatebased,
with all distances and bearings made from northsouth
running meridians and east-west base lines. The
largest subdivision of land is the Public Land Survey
Township (as opposed to political township), and measures
six miles square. Each township is comprised of 36
sections, and each section has an area of one square mile
(640 acres).
Numbering
System: Public
Land Survey
Townships are
named systematically
by the
township and
range numberingsystem.
This system
is based on
the location of
an initial point. Initial points occur at the intersection of a
principal meridian and a base line. Each township is
named by a township number, which indicates its northsouth
position of the base line, and a range number, which
indicates its east-west position of the principal meridian.
4
In Minnesota, township
numbers east of the
Mississippi indicate position
north of the Galena
Base Line. Township numbers
west of the river indicate
position north of the
Clarendon Base Line.
Range numbers indicate
position east or west of the
4 th Principal Meridian, or
west of the 5 th Principal
Meridian.
Public Land Survey
Townships are subdivided
into 36 sections, each section
being approximately 1
mile by 1 mile in dimension.
Section corners and
section-quarter corners
were marked by posts or
other monuments.
Sections are
numbered from 1 to 36
and are labeled in a
switchback pattern.
Each section can be
divided into four quarters:
NW, NE, SW, and
SE. Each quarter is
160 acres, and these
areas too can be subdivided
into NW, NE,
SW, and SE quarters.
1858—Townships, Flooding,
and Statehood!
Waseca County was actually
formed on February 27, 1857
when Minnesota was still a
territory. Some of the first
acts of business of the new
Minnesota county were to
organize the townships and appoint the judges of election.
On April 5, 1858, the following townships came into being:
Okaman (changed to Janesville one month later),
Iosco, Blooming Grove, Woodville, St. Mary, Wilton,
Otisco, and Vivian. One month later on May 11, Minne-