Texas Abstracts, Blocks, and Surveys: TXSS Reference Guide

Quick Answer: Texas describes land using three shapes — Abstract numbers (unique GLO IDs per county), Block & Section (railroad survey grids), and Survey-name (Spanish/Mexican original grants). All three coexist across the 254 Texas counties.

If you read enough Texas deeds, leases, and Railroad Commission filings, you'll see all three TXSS shapes. This guide is a reference for each — what they look like, where they're used, and how to tell them apart.

TXSS at a Glance

1. Abstract Numbers

An abstract number is a unique identifier the Texas General Land Office (GLO) assigned to each original land grant within a Texas county.

• Format: A-{number} or Abstract {number}, plus a county
• Range: Abstract numbers run from 1 to several thousand depending on the county
• Scope: Always county-scoped — A-123 Reeves County and A-123 Bowie County are different parcels
• Size: Variable — anywhere from a few acres to tens of thousands

Where Abstracts Are Used

Abstract-only descriptions are the dominant convention in:

• East Texas (Bowie, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, etc.) — Piney Woods
• Coastal Bend (Aransas, Refugio, San Patricio, etc.)
• Small-grant counties scattered throughout Central Texas

When you see just A-{number} {County} with nothing else, you're looking at an Abstract-only description.

2. Block & Section

In West Texas, railroads received large land grants in the late 19th century and surveyed them into blocks containing numbered sections. The result looks visually similar to PLSS — a regular grid of one-square-mile sections — but each block belongs to a specific railroad survey.

• Format: Block {N}, Sec {N}, {RR} Survey, {County}
• Section size: ~640 acres (similar to PLSS, though not always exact)
• Survey name often required: Same block number can exist in multiple surveys

Major Railroad Surveys

These are the largest historical grants you'll encounter in TXSS Block & Section descriptions:

Where Block & Section Is Used

Block & Section dominates in:

• Permian Basin (Reeves, Loving, Ward, Winkler, Pecos, etc.)
• Trans-Pecos (El Paso, Hudspeth, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Presidio, Brewster)
• Panhandle (Dallam, Hartley, Moore, Lipscomb, Hemphill, Ochiltree, etc.)
• North Texas railroad-grant counties

If a description references "Block" and a railroad abbreviation, you're almost certainly in West or North Texas.

3. Survey-Name

In South Texas and parts of Central Texas, many descriptions skip the abstract number and reference the named survey directly.

• Format: {Surname or grantee} Survey, {County}
• Origin: Original land grants from the Republic of Texas, Mexican government, or Spanish crown
• Size: Often a league (~4,428.4 acres) or labor (~177.1 acres), but varies widely

Spanish Leagues and Labors

Texas's pre-independence land grants used Spanish colonial measurement:

A León Survey, Cameron County description points to a single named tract — the polygon is the original grant boundary, not a geometric subdivision.

Where Survey-Name Is Used

Survey-name descriptions are most common in:

• South Texas / RGV (Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Zapata, Webb, etc.)
• Coastal Bend (where Spanish/Mexican grants survived through the Texas Republic era)
• Central Texas (Bexar, Karnes, Wilson, etc.)

How Acreage Varies in TXSS

Unlike PLSS — where a section is always ()640 acres and a quarter is always ()160 — TXSS parcels vary wildly:

• A small East Texas abstract: 10–50 acres
• A standard Permian Basin section in a railroad block: ~640 acres
• A South Texas Spanish league: ~4,428 acres
• A massive original grant in the Panhandle: 10,000+ acres

This is why Township America returns an explicit acreage field in every TXSS conversion — you can't infer it from the description shape alone.

Counties: All 254 Covered

Texas has more counties than any other US state — 254 — and Township America covers all of them. Each county has its own converter hub:

• /texas/counties/reeves — Permian Basin example (Block & Section)
• /texas/counties/bowie — East Texas example (Abstract-only)
• /texas/counties/bexar — South Texas example (Survey-name + Abstract)

Browse the Texas hub to find a specific county.

Finding the Right Description Shape

When you have a Texas legal description and you're not sure what shape it is:

Township America's parser handles all three transparently — you don't have to tell it which one you have. Just paste the description and convert.

Cross-Reference with Federal Datasets

Beyond the basic polygon, Pro+ subscribers can review Texas state O&G data in the web app:

• RRC wells — Texas Railroad Commission well headers on the Texas map overlay
• GLO leases — Active state oil-and-gas leases on the abstract
• Bay Tracts — Coastal state-water lease polygons adjacent to coastal abstracts

For programmatic conversion, use POST /api/convert with a TXSS description. See Convert Texas Abstract to GPS Coordinates and Township America API.

Convert Any TXSS Description

Ready to convert a Texas description to GPS coordinates? See the Convert Texas Abstract to GPS Coordinates guide, or jump straight to the converter:

Open Township America →

For programmatic access across all 254 counties, see Township America API.

Related Guides

• Texas Survey System (TXSS): How Texas Describes Land Without PLSS — Why Texas is different
• Convert Texas Abstract to GPS Coordinates — Practical conversion how-to
• Township and Range System — PLSS counterpart

Frequently Asked Questions

How big is a typical Texas abstract? It varies — anywhere from a few acres to tens of thousands. East Texas abstracts tend to be small; West Texas railroad-survey sections are closer to PLSS-style 640 acres.

What's the difference between an abstract and a survey? A survey is the original grant tract. An abstract is the unique number GLO assigned that tract within its county. One survey can contain many abstracts.

Is "Block 5" the same as a PLSS section? No. A "Block" in TXSS is a railroad-survey grid container; a "Section" is the numbered subdivision inside the block. The PLSS analog of a Texas section is roughly the Block + Section + Survey combination.

Can a Texas county use multiple TXSS conventions? Yes — most do. A single county can have abstracts, blocks with sections, and named surveys all in use.

Where can I see official Texas survey data? The Texas General Land Office maintains the official survey records. Township America's polygons resolve against GLO data and Railroad Commission filings.