SECRETARY OF STATE:

The Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota, established by Act of Congress of March 3, 1857, was responsible for conducting the original government survey of the public domain in the territory and state of Minnesota.

The earliest surveys of land in Minnesota were conducted under the jurisdiction of the Surveyor General of Iowa and Wisconsin, headquartered at Dubuque, Iowa. These surveys, completed between 1848 and May 1857, were primarily on land located between the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers or in the southeastern corner of Minnesota. After the establishment of the Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota, copies of the field notes, plats, and other records relevant to these surveys were transferred from Dubuque to St. Paul.

The Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota continued in operation until December 1907, when the survey of Minnesota was essentially complete. After 1907, the commissioner of the U. S. General Land Office served, ex officio, as Surveyor General of Minnesota, and handled any requisite surveying activities and questions. A congressional act of 1940 provided that the records of the Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota be turned over to the Minnesota Secretary of State.

A more detailed history and origin of the Public Land Survey Systen in Minnesota and the United States is available on the web:http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/glo/index.html

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The collection is organized into the following sections:

Within each, they are arranged by range number, thereunder by township number, with one sheet per township.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Secretary of State. Land Survey Summary Sheets. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 2010-38

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 007469373

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Surveying -- Public lands -- Minnesota.

Townships -- Minnesota.

Organizations:

Minnesota. Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota.

Places:

Minnesota -- Surveys.

Document Types:

Maps -- Minnesota.

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