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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Plats for each township show section and subdivision markers; acreage of some subdivisions; rivers, lakes, swamps, major land elevations, and other natural features; location and identification of any settlements or settlers' claims established prior to the completion of the survey; and any roads or railroads in existence at the time of the survey. Some plats include names of streams and lakes, notes on topography and vegetation, meander notes, and related data.

The plats also list the total acreage of the township; name of the surveyor(s); date of contract or special instruction under which the township was surveyed; date the survey was completed; and date the plats were approved by the surveyor general. Some townships that are divided by a major watercourse have two plats, one for each bank. There are additional plats for some townships in which subsequent surveys were made to correct or reestablish section or subdivision markers, or for surveys of islands that were not included in the original government survey.

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The collection is organized into the following sections:

Within each section the plats are arranged by principal meridian, then range, then township.

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Access Restrictions:

The original land survey plats are closed to the public. Requests to use the original plats should be directed to the Minnesota State Archivist.

Preferred Citation:

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

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Alternate Form Available:

Digital version of the official set of original land survey plats is available on the web: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 985-3; 985-87; 2008-30; 2009-60; 2011-39; 2011-72; 2012-26; 2012-36; 2012-67; 2013-69; 2015-26; 2016-30

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: 001714092

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Closed. Researchers should use the online version: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/

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While these plats interfile geographically with those reproduced on the microfiche and in the digital set, the work done postdates both sets and, therefore, they are OPEN for use.

Duplicate, dependent resurvey plats received by the Secretary of State from the Bureau of Land Management.

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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 -- Maps.

Organizations:

United States. Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota.

Places:

Minnesota -- Surveys.

Document Types:

Indexes -- Minnesota.

Maps -- Minnesota.

Plats -- Minnesota.

Functions:

Mapping.

Surveying.

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