A Virtual Land Experiment from 200 Years Ago

 

A Virtual Land Experiment from 200 Years Ago

The Land Grid of the American Midwest (PLSS)

In 1785, ten years after the United States gained independence, the Continental Congress (the early version of Congress) began selling land in the western territories.

This was called the Land Ordinance Act of 1785.

Before people settled on the land, before towns were built and places got their names, the U.S. government divided huge areas of land into grids and gave each one a coordinate.

This system is called the Public Land Survey System (PLSS).

T2N R3E S14

This means “Township 2 North, Range 3 East, Section 14.”

Each section is 1 mi² (about 2.6 km²), which is larger than the entire country of Monaco in Europe.

As time passed, something interesting happened. People who settled on the land began giving names to the places.

If a town grew in an area, it got a name — like Normal Township in Illinois (which covers all of T24N R2E). Some areas were named after farms, like Fox Hollow, located in S14 T2N R3E.

Almost Lands still Have No Names.

However, many parts of the land still have no names. They have coordinates, but no names that people use.

And places without names have no identity. They exist, but they are not remembered. No one talks about them. No stories are told.

A place without a name is a place without meaning. It’s land that exists — but is forgotten. And it’s a fascinating trace left by a virtual land experiment from 200 years ago.