Metes and bounds, explained

What metes and bounds means

Each segment of a metes and bounds description gives the compass direction the line runs and how many feet long it is.

In South Dakota, the point of beginning is usually tied to a point in the US Government Survey System.

Metes and bounds is the least common kind of description in South Dakota, and state law now restricts its use.

Land can be described by metes and bounds, by a fractional part of a Public Land Survey System section, or by lot in a recorded subdivision or survey.

Arkansas survey plats for metes and bounds work show the point of beginning, plus a separate point of commencement when the description starts elsewhere.

Texas surveyors must apply the rules of dignity, meaning the priority of calls, along with Texas statutes and case law.

Texas law sets one vara, the Spanish unit used in Texas land surveys, at exactly 33 1/3 inches.

Sources: Point of beginning and an outline; Three ways to describe land; Point of commencement versus point of beginning; Calls have an order of priority; The Texas vara

The other system: townships and sections

The Public Land Survey System is a rectangular system for dividing and describing land, regulated by the Bureau of Land Management.

The original public domain covers major parts of 30 southern and western states.

The PLSS usually divides land into 6 mile square townships, each split into 36 one mile square sections.

Township numbers count north or south of a baseline; range numbers count east or west of a principal meridian.

Each township holds 36 sections of about one square mile, or 640 acres, each.

A quarter section is 160 acres and a quarter of a quarter is 40 acres.

Not all townships and sections are perfectly square; some sections hold fewer than 640 acres, especially along survey edges.

Federal cadastral surveys began with the Land Ordinance of 1785. They create, define, mark and reestablish the boundaries of the public lands.

Sources: PLSS is the federal rectangular survey; A section is about 640 acres; Began with the Land Ordinance of 1785