Township, PLSS Definition

A township is the second largest standard unit in the PLSS hierarchy, below the survey block and above the section. Each township is a nominally square area measuring six miles on a side, containing 36 square-mile sections. Townships are identified by two coordinates: the township number (counting rows north or south from the baseline) and the range number (counting columns east or west from the principal meridian). Together these two numbers uniquely identify the township within a survey area.

The full township designation follows a standard format: "Township 5 North, Range 3 West" or in abbreviated form "T5N, R3W." The township number comes first, followed by its direction (N or S), then the range number and its direction (E or W). Both the direction indicators and the principal meridian name are required for a legally complete description — omitting either creates ambiguity.

A township covers 36 square miles (23,040 acres) in the ideal case. In practice, townships on the borders of survey areas or near water bodies are frequently fractional — they contain fewer than 36 complete sections because the grid does not fit evenly against the boundary. Interior townships are much more likely to contain full sections, though even interior sections are rarely exactly 640 acres due to surveying imprecision.

The 6-by-6-mile township size was specified in the original Land Ordinance of 1785 and has never changed. The choice of six miles was deliberate: it was large enough to be a meaningful administrative and agricultural unit, small enough to be surveyed efficiently, and produced a section size (one square mile, 640 acres) that could be evenly subdivided into the 320-, 160-, 80-, and 40-acre parcels that homesteaders needed. The township and its internal section grid have been the foundation of American rural land administration for over 240 years.