The following sample maps (copied from U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute-series topographic maps) illustrate the USPLS grid in different topographical and cultural situations.

TYPICAL CONGRESSIONAL TOWNSHIP CORNER
Montgomery County, Kansas.

This parcel, at the intersection of four Congressional townships near Independence, Kansas, is typical of thousands of similar situations throughout the 30 public-land states.   There is slight error in the orientation of the grid with respect to true north (an common error throughout USPLS surveys), but otherwise, the grid meets the basic expectations: the section lines are straight, and the individual sections are reasonably square.   (The City of Independence is off the map to the east, at the eastern edge of Independence Township.)

Note the ways in which the USPLS grid has affected subsequent cultural activities:

• Civil township boundaries sometimes, but not always, follow Congressional township and range lines.   In this case, the north-south range line in the center of the map is also the boundary line between two civil townships: Rutland Township on the west side and Independence Township on the east side.   But the east-west town line in the center of the map is not a civil boundary: both civil townships extend north and south of the town line.
• Secondary roads (black dashed lines) tend to follow range and sections lines (or internal lines running parallel to section lines), unless some topographic feature forces some other alignment.   Note the situation in the north half of Section 6: the road follows the east-west forty line for half a mile, then turns north along the quarter line, then squiggles around the south side of a hill, then follows the section line off the map to the east.
• Even major highways, such as U.S. 180 (the wide red line in Sections 31 and 36) often follow sections lines, an artifact of their historic origins as farm lanes or township roads.

---

OKLAHOMA POINT OF BEGINNING
Garvin and Murray Counties, Oklahoma.

Starting from the Oklahoma POB, Congressional townships were surveyed in all four directions, with the result that the POB falls neatly at the intersection of four Congressional Townships.   Note that when civil townships and counties were established, the Base Line became both a civil township line and a county line, but the Principal Meridian did not.

---

WISCONSIN POINT OF BEGINNING
Grant and Lafayette Counties, Wisconsin; Jo Daviess County, Illinois.

Starting from the Wisconsin POB (on the Illinois/Wisconsin state line), Congressional townships were surveyed northeast and northwest into Wisconsin.   But the Illinois townships to the south are referenced to a different POB (but the same Principal Meridian), with the weird results shown in this map.   Note that:

• The Wisconsin Congressional townships (and the civil townships that resulted) are neatly oriented with respect to the Wisconsin POB.
• The Illinois Congressional townships are oriented with respect to a different POB, located about 170 miles south of the Wisconsin POB; consequently, when they end at the Wisconsin Line, they're in Town 29 North.
• The sections of the Illinois townships that border the Wisconsin line aren't complete (look closely at Sections 13 and 17).

---

CIVIL ENTITY BOUNDARY LINES
Pipestone County, Minnesota

The boundaries of counties, municipalities, and special districts often follow USPLS range and section lines, or internal lines parallel to range and section lines.   This map shows Pipestone National Monument as it exists today; note that most of its boundaries follow USPLS lines, although a portion of the boundary follows the railroad.   The boundaries of the original federal catlinite reservation are nowhere in evidence, although the catlinite quarries are still under federal protection.

---

THE USPLS GRID MEETS A RIVER
Kane County, Illinois

This map illustrates how the USPLS grid crosses a river and continues uninterrupted on the other side.   This particular map shows the Fox River south of Elgin, Illinois.   By no means a narrow river, but the USPLS surveyors managed to carry the USPLS grid across it anyway, even though there were probably no bridges when the surveys were made.

Extra credit: can you spot the old railroad right-of-way?

---

THE USPLS GRID MEETS NARROW WATERWAYS
Salt Lake County, Utah; Davis County, Utah

Another example of how the USPLS grid crosses narrow waterways, and continues uninterrupted on the other side.   This particular map shows a river (the Jordan River a few miles upstream from its mouth, where it empties into the Great Salt Lake) and several wetland areas along the southern edge of the lake.

---

THE USPLS GRID MEETS A LARGE BODY OF WATER
Door County, Wisconsin

This map illustrates how USPLS lines terminate at the shores of large bodies of water (in this case, Lake Michigan).   Note that public roads tend to follow section lines (or internal lines parallel to section lines) except when topography forces a different alignments.

---

THE USPLS GRID MEETS AN OPEN PIT MINE
Salt Lake County, Utah

This map illustrates how the USPLS grid crosses a large open pit mine (the Kennecott copper mine in Bingham Canyon, Utah).   The grid continues without interruption -- which, of course, we would expect, since the grid was established before the pit was excavated.   Presumably, the original section corner monuments have long since been obliterated!

---

TWO USPLS GRIDS MEET AT A RIVER
Leavenworth County, Kansas; Platte County, Missouri
This map illustrates what happens when two unrelated USPLS grids meet at a river, in this case, the Missouri River between Kansas and Missouri.   Although the section lines (sort of) line up across the river, the section numbers do not (note that Section 22 and Section 35 appear to identify the same parcel of land).   The river marks the boundary between two USPLS surveys: Missouri is referenced to the Fifth Principal Meridian, while Kansas is referenced to the Sixth Principal Meridian.

---

TWO USPLS GRIDS MEET AT AN INDIAN TREATY LINE
Switzerland County, Indiana

This map illustrates how USPLS survey lines close against existing survey lines (in this case, an Indian Treaty line), resulting in a mismatch between adjacent surveys.

The diagonal line through the center of the map is the Greenville Treaty Line.   Note that the USPLS grids do not line up at this line.   The land east of the treaty line was surveyed while the treaty was in force; this land is referenced to the First Principal Meridian.   The land to the west was surveyed after Indian claims had been extinguished; this land is referenced to the Second Principal Meridian.

---

THE USPLS GRID MEETS EXISTING SURVEY LINES
Monroe County, Michigan

This map is another illustration of how USPLS lines close to existing survey lines (in this case, farms settled and surveyed before the USPLS surveyors arrived on the scene).   The old property lines are all oriented along a northeast/southwest axis, probably so that each property would have frontage on the Raisin River, a piece of which is visible at the northeast corner of the map.

Note that the USPLS grid lines close against both the east and west property lines of Lots 683 and 673.   The reasons for this particular situation are unknown; it would be interesting to know the history.

---

THE USPLS GRID MEETS AN INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY
Imperial County, California

This map illustrates how USPLS lines close to an International Boundary line, in this case, the line in southern California between the United States and Mexico.

---

THREE USPLS GRIDS MEET AT STATE LINES
Cherokee County, Kansas; Ottawa County, Oklahoma; Newton County, Missouri
This map illustrates what happens when three unrelated USPLS grids meet at state lines, in this case, the three-corner junction of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.   Sections 2 and 11 in Missouri are complete sections; this probably indicates the following sequence of events:

• First, Missouri (perhaps when it was still part of the Louisiana-Missouri Territory?) was surveyed from its POB (the Fifth Principal Meridian and Base Line, actually located in Arkansas).
• Next, Missouri's western state line was established based on the existing Missouri USPLS grid.
• Next, Oklahoma and Kansas were surveyed from their respective POBs, and closed against existing Missouri line.

---

THREE USPLS GRIDS MEET AT FOUR CORNERS
San Juan County, Utah; Montezuma County, Colorado;
Apache County Arizona; San Juan County, New Mexico
And finally: what happens when three unrelated USPLS grids meet at Four Corners -- the only place in the United States where four states meet at a common point.

One might expect that four USPLS grids would meet at this point; however, as the map at the right shows, there are only three grids at this point because the Colorado survey is oriented to the New Mexico POB.

So why, then, are the Colorado and New Mexico range numbers different at this point?   I don't know.   But here's my guess.   We do know that the surveys were made at different times,  probably by different surveyors:

• The original News Mexico POB was set in central New Mexico in 1855.   Most of New Mexico, as well as southwestern Colorado, were surveyed from this point.
• A secondary POB was set in northwestern New Mexico in 1869, probably to correct for accumulated errors in surveys referenced to the 1855 POB.   This new POB apparently picked up the original town and range numbers where they were, and continued from there, all the way up to Four Corners.

So perhaps we could be justified in saying that there really are four surveys meeting at Four Corners.

---