The complete legal land description for a 160 acre parcel in eastern Oregon would read: the SE1/4 of Section 14 in Township 14 South, Range 34 East, Willamette Meridian. Normal townships are divided into 36 Sections and further into Lots and Aliquot Parts. The Ranges are numbered west from the meridian to the Pacific Ocean and east to the Idaho border. Townships (normally 6 miles by 6 miles) are numbered starting with Township 1 North (of the base line) to the Canadian border and Township 1 South to the California border.

The lines cross on the Willamette Stone in the west hills of Portland, Oregon. In Oregon and Washington the rectangular survey system of township and range is referenced to the north-south Willamette Meridian and the east-west Willamette Base Line. Sections in each township are numbered consecutively beginning with number 1 in the northeast corner of the township, and counting right to left then left to right and so on weaving back and forth through the sections of the township, and ending with number 36 in the southeast corner. Each township is broken down into 36 sections each section is usually 640 acres. Townships are for the most part 36 square miles or 6 miles square. Land is broken down into areas called townships. Field Survey Plat View Instructions (PDF)Ī legal description/land description is the method of locating or describing land in relation to the public land survey system, which was established by law in 1785, under the Articles of Confederation.

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