How do I tell which meridian applies to an Alabama county?

The meridian is usually stated in the description as 'Huntsville Meridian' or 'St. Stephens Meridian.' If it is not stated, county location is the guide: northern and central counties (Madison, Limestone, Lawrence, Morgan, Cullman, Blount, St. Clair, Etowah, and others) use the Huntsville Meridian. Southern and coastal plain counties (Baldwin, Mobile, Escambia, Conecuh, Monroe, Clarke, and others) use the St. Stephens Meridian.

What is the Black Belt and what meridian covers it?

The Black Belt is a band of fertile dark calcareous prairie soil running east-west across south-central Alabama, covering counties like Hale, Perry, Marengo, Dallas, Wilcox, and Lowndes. Despite its southern location, most Black Belt counties fall under the Huntsville Meridian. The region was historically a major cotton-producing area and today supports timber, soybean, and cattle operations.

Can I use this converter for Alabama coal and gas lease descriptions?

Yes. Alabama's Black Warrior Basin gas and coalbed methane leases in Tuscaloosa, Jefferson, Walker, and Fayette counties reference Huntsville Meridian PLSS descriptions. Enter the section, township, and range from the lease document to map the leased tract. For portfolios of multiple leases, use batch conversion to process all descriptions at once.

Why do some Alabama sections along rivers have government lots?

Government lots in Alabama occur primarily along the Tennessee River in the north and the Tombigbee, Alabama, and Mobile rivers in the south, where irregular water boundaries prevented standard quarter-section division. Tennessee Valley Authority reservoir operations have also created additional shoreline government lot descriptions in the northern counties. Acreages for government lots are recorded on the original GLO survey plat.

Alabama PLSS Converter — Section Township Range to GPS

Convert Alabama Public Land Survey System (PLSS) land descriptions to GPS coordinates using the Huntsville / St. Stephens system.

Convert Alabama Land Descriptions

Enter a Alabama PLSS land description to get GPS coordinates instantly.

Example: NE 12 4N 5E Huntsville Meridian

Open the converter

Understanding Alabama's PLSS System

Alabama is surveyed under two principal meridians: the Huntsville Meridian and the St. Stephens Meridian. The Huntsville Meridian, established in 1807 with its initial point near present-day Huntsville, governs the northern two-thirds of the state. The St. Stephens Meridian, established in 1804 with its initial point near the old territorial capital of St. Stephens on the Tombigbee River, controls the southern third. The dividing line between the two systems runs roughly east-west through the middle of the state, and identifying which meridian applies is the essential first step in any Alabama title or land management work.

Alabama's survey history reflects the two distinct colonial and territorial traditions that shaped the state. North Alabama was settled primarily through the Huntsville land office, which opened in 1809 and was one of the first federal land offices in the Deep South. The Tennessee Valley counties — Madison, Limestone, Lawrence, Morgan, Marshall, and their neighbors — were among the first areas surveyed and sold, drawn by the rich limestone soils that would anchor north Alabama's agricultural economy. South Alabama's surveys under the St. Stephens Meridian proceeded somewhat later and covered the coastal plain counties, the Black Belt prairie, and the Mobile Bay watershed.

Alabama's Black Belt — the band of fertile dark prairie soils running east-west across the south-central part of the state — falls within the Huntsville Meridian survey area and has historically been among the most intensively farmed land in the Southeast. Today, Alabama's land use is dominated by timber production, with the state ranking among the top five in the nation for timber harvesting, and by a growing mix of agricultural, recreational, and residential real estate activity.

Principal Meridians

Huntsville Meridian St. Stephens Meridian

Common Use Cases in Alabama

Who converts Alabama PLSS descriptions — and why.

Timber and Forestry Land Transactions

Alabama is one of the nation's top timber-producing states, and its forests — both industrial and family-owned — are managed using PLSS legal descriptions under the Huntsville and St. Stephens Meridians. Timber sale contracts, timberland purchases, and forest management plan parcels all require GPS conversion for boundary identification and field layout.

Agricultural Farmland in the Black Belt and Tennessee Valley

Alabama's Black Belt counties and the Tennessee Valley support significant cotton, soybean, corn, and poultry operations. Farmland sales, FSA program enrollments, and conservation easements all reference PLSS descriptions. Converting these to GPS supports acreage verification, field mapping, and lender due diligence for agricultural transactions.

Real Estate Development and Title Research

Alabama's growing suburban and rural residential markets — particularly around Birmingham, Huntsville, and the Gulf Coast — generate constant demand for PLSS-to-GPS conversion. Title searches, subdivision plat approvals, and boundary surveys for residential development all trace back to Huntsville or St. Stephens Meridian descriptions in the underlying deeds.

Natural Gas and Coalbed Methane

Northern Alabama has active natural gas production, including coalbed methane operations in the Black Warrior Basin of Tuscaloosa, Jefferson, Walker, and Fayette counties. Lease descriptions, well location notices, and surface use agreements reference Huntsville Meridian PLSS descriptions. Converting these to GPS supports lease mapping and Alabama Oil and Gas Board regulatory filings.

Industries: TimberAgricultureReal Estate

How to Convert Alabama Legal Descriptions

Three steps from legal description to GPS coordinates.

Enter your Alabama legal description with the meridian

Type or paste your description and include the meridian designation. A northern Alabama description reads: NE 12 4N 5E Huntsville Meridian. A southern Alabama description reads: SW 8 3N 6E St. Stephens Meridian. Always include the meridian when entering Alabama descriptions — the two-meridian system means a wrong meridian selection will place the parcel far from its true location.

Verify the map result

The converter plots the parcel on an interactive map. Confirm the result falls in the expected county and landscape. Northern Alabama descriptions should appear in the Tennessee Valley or the Highland Rim; central and southern descriptions in the Black Belt prairie or coastal plain. Toggle on aerial imagery to compare with visible land use patterns.

Export for your workflow

Download coordinates as CSV, KML, or GeoJSON. Alabama timber managers import into forest inventory platforms; real estate professionals export to county GIS viewers; oil and gas landmen export to lease mapping software; agricultural users import into FSA portal tools.

Processing an Alabama timber company land inventory, a county farmland database, or a natural gas lease portfolio spanning both meridians? Batch conversion handles any number of Huntsville or St. Stephens Meridian descriptions from a single CSV upload.

Learn about batch conversion

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Alabama PLSS descriptions and conversion.

Alabama uses two principal meridians: the Huntsville Meridian (northern and central Alabama) and the St. Stephens Meridian (southern Alabama). The Huntsville Meridian was established in 1807 near Huntsville; the St. Stephens Meridian was established in 1804 near the old territorial capital of St. Stephens. Both meridians are abbreviated by name in legal descriptions.