I started to learn about cadastral surveys including the townships, sections, and quarter sections they document, a couple of years ago while researching the location of my grandparents homestead in Montana. Recently I found a copy of the 1854 survey of the South Tabor neighborhood and another map from 1862 showing the boundaries of the original land grants. If we are going to talk about neighborhood history, we might as well start with the first settlers.
I can see your eyes rolling and hear you say, "why do I care?" Stay with me - mapping our history can be fascinating. Maybe some background will help.
After the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress passed the Land Ordinance of 1785 to help pay off the debts of the new country by selling the Western Territories. It was soon evident that the old system of using local markers like streams and rocks to establish property lines was unreliable so in the 1800s the Public Land Survey System made up of a six mile by six mile grid of Townships was dropped like a net over the new lands west of the 13 original colonies.
To conduct the survey, baselines running East and West and meridians running North and South were established in various regions. In Oregon and Washington we have the Willamette Baseline and Meridian which was marked first by the Willamette Stone and later replaced with a stainless steel marker located in Willamette Stone State Heritage Site on Skyline Boulevard in the west hills of Portland. All the cadastral surveys of Oregon and Washington completed in the mid 1800s are measured from that site.
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| Principal Meridians and Baseline Map copied from Wikipedia |
Before we get to the interesting part about our own neighborhood you need to understand how the system works. Each six by six mile township is broken down into one mile by one mile sections. The sections are numbered back and forth like the movement of the plow starting with number one in the upper right hand corner. Here is a diagram from Wikipedia showing how it works:
You need to know all of this to understand the maps I found of South Tabor. We are in Township No.1 South, Range No. 2 East of the Willamette Meridian. Within that township, South Tabor is located in the NE corner of Section 7 and the N half of section 8. SE Division Street runs along the northern border of the sections and SE 62nd Avenue runs between 7 and 8. Click on the 1854 survey below to see what the surveyor noted about the land, trees, streams, roads, and settlements (use the diagram above to help find section 7 and 8).
Are you still with me? If so the 1862 survey below might be of interest (click to enlarge and use your browser to zoom). If you can find sections 7 and 8 again you will notice that the original land grant for a large portion of South Tabor was owned by Joshua Witten and the area to the East of his land was unclaimed.
There is more to learn about these maps, but maybe this is enough for today.
Wow! Thank you! This is a great illustration of for cadastral surveys, explains so simply how the survey lines run and the crucial point of the Wilamette stone. Driving or flying over Washington State I always admire the geometry of the grid lines. Exploring out from the epicentre of my little mountain town, I measure the distance I have cycled by the sections and half sections. Your explanation puts all these experiences of mine into a big picture!
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