Land Ownership
--US
--Texas
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Land Ownership and the Cadastre
• the cadastre: an official register of the boundaries (location), quantity, value and
ownership of land
– often legally based on written descriptions, not maps
– descriptions may be inconsistent with maps and/or with “accepted practice/common
knowledge” (e.g. a fence line)
– legal description, map, value information often held by different organizational units
• for most of US, foundation is the Public Land Survey System (PLSS):
– established by Ordinance of Continental Congress in 1785
– amended multiple times since therefore rules/procedures/outcome may differ based on
time area originally surveyed
– currently administered by US Bureau of Land Management
– does NOT apply in: original 13 colonies, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Hawaii,
Texas; (Ohio also has many variations)
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Descriptions of Land Ownership
• Sectional descriptions:
– N1/2 (of the) SW1/4 (of the) SW1/4 (of) Section 11 (within
township) T30S, Range68W (from the) 6th. P.M. (principal
meridian), containing approx 20.06 acres
• metes and bounds (possibly with origin tied to a Section
corner)
– from a point 12,288ft south and 5,380.98 feet west of (...the
NE corner of Section 11) running west 53.4ft; thence S. 9°19” E. 25.6 feet; thence...thence to the beginning, containing
1,945.10 square feet
Section 11: 640 acres
160 acres
40
acres
• Plat descriptions (with possible reference to a map):
– being Lot 9 in Block G of Highland Addition No. 3 in the
City of Richardson,Texas (according to map thereof recorded
in Vol. 23, Page 157 of the Map records of Dallas County)
• natural objects and adjoiners descriptions:
– beginning at a stone in Green Hill Lane... !!!
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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US Public Land Survey System
• Section 11, Twn 30 S, Rng 68 West, of the 6th Principal Meridian
– 24 by 24 mile quadrangles set from a principal meridian (e.g 6th P.M. is in Kansas)
and a base line (Kansas/Nebraska line for the 6th)
• north side <24mi ‘cos of convergence
• quadrangles used for surveying but not identification
– each quadrangle divided into 16 townships, each 6 by 6 miles (except for north side)
• townships numbered north and south from base line (e.g. T30S)
• ranges numbered east and west from meridian (e.g. R68W)
– each township divided into 36 sections, each 1 by 1 mile (except for the last section
in each row on the west (if west of the meridian) or the east (if east of the meridian)
• sections numbered by continuously walking the rows, starting in the northeast corner
– each section has 640 acres and may be further divided into:
• four quadrants, or quarter sections, having 160 acres each
• 16 quarter-quarter sections, having 40 acres each.
• In rural areas, a survey monument should exist at each section corner (approx
2.8 million), and in some cases at quarter section corners also
(Its a raster system!!)
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Definitions Associated with PLSS
Initial point: the intersection of the principal meridian and
base line of the survey
principal meridian: a line running N/S thru the initial point
along a true meridian of longitude
base line: a line running E/W thru the initial point along a
true parallel of latitude
guide meridians: lines extending N/S from base line, usually
at intervals of 24 miles east and west of principal meridian
standard parallels: (correction lines) lines extending E/W
from PM, usually at intervals of 24 miles north and south
of base line
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
5
GIS and the Cadastre
• Most Cadastral recording systems are non-coordinate based,
whereas GIS is coordinate-based (lat/long or XY)
• generates technical challenge to incorporate into GIS
• special software solutions required e.g. Arc/INFO COGO
(coordinate geometry) for metes and bounds
• although software could reproduce the PLSS mathematically,
this would not suffice legally since the legally correct corner
for a section is its surveyed monument, even if the monument
is in the “wrong” place or even missing--and it is often both!
• Often, GIS is the first time properties have been
simultaneously mapped and many anomalies are revealed:
– overlapping property boundaries
– property under water, etc.
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Principal
Meridians
Colorado
Base line for 6th P.M.
Kansas
R3E
New Mexico P.M
<24
Base
24
24
1st Standard Parallel South 24
<24
24
24
2nd Standard Parallel South
Indian P.M.
Townships
(6x6mi)
Twp4N
Twp3N
Twp2N
Twp1N
Twp1S
Twp2S
Twp3S
Twp4S
Twp5S
Twp6S
Quadrangles (24x24 miles)
Note: convergence is grossly exaggerated;
meridians are straight and true north;
parallels are curved on the ground
Sections
(1x1 mile)
6 5
4 3 2
7
9 10 11 12
8
1
18 17 16 15 14 13
19 20 21 22 23 24
30 29 28 27 26 25
range line
Nebraska
1st Standard Parallel North
6th Principal Meridian
Wyoming
P.M. (e.g 6th)
31 32 33 34 35 36
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
township line
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Land Ownership in Texas
Jack Lyle, RPLS
University of Texas at Dallas
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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The PLSS Does NOT Apply in
Texas
The Texas land system is NOT based on the United States’
PLSS but rather on a sequential grant system which
evolved during Texas’ “Six Flags” history.
Texas was originally a Spanish possession, then a Mexican
territory, then an independent republic, a US State, a
Confederate State, and, finally, a US State again.
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Spanish and Mexican Land Grants
Prior to 1821, Texas was a province of Spain. One of the
famous Spanish land grants was to Moses Austin in 1821
to settle 300 American families in Texas.
Mexico overthrew the Spanish government in 1821 and
continued the policy of making “empresario” grants to
Americans and others (Irish, Germans, etc.). Lands were
granted by “metes and bounds”.
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Metes and Bounds Conveyances
Lands were not located in relation to an overall framework
like the section/township system, but rather were
individual, sequential conveyances described by metes and
bounds.
Metes – Calls for course and distance between boundary corners
(South 45° West 1900 varas). Descriptive but not necessarily
locative.
Bounds – Calls for natural, artificial, and legal monuments that mark
the boundaries of the land. These are the calls that actually “locate”
the land being described.
[The vara was set by statute in 1919 to be 33.33 inches or 2.777...
feet. It is still the standard unit of measurement in Texas. Prior to
1919, there were varying ideas about the length of the vara.]
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Sequential Conveyances
Unlike the PLSS where all the sections in a township
are legally created simultaneously, sequential
conveyances are created over a period of time, and
“senior” rights develop.
Since each conveyance is created independently,
there is a possibility of vacancy (gap) and overlap
between and among grants
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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The Republic of Texas
The newly formed Republic in 1836 recognized all valid
grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments.
The Constitution of 1836 also provided that “all persons
except Africans and Indians living in Texas on Declaration
of Independence are entitled to a headright Grant… heads
of families one league and one labor; single men seventeen
years or older, one third of a league.
League- 5000 varas square (about 4430 acres)
Labor – 1000 varas square (about 177 acres)
(A vara is 2.77.. feet. There are 640 acres in a square mile.)
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Subsequent Grants by the
Republic
Headrights and Bounties – Grants made to newcomers to encourage
settlement.
Donations to Veterans- Grants to veterans of San Jacinto and to the
families of men killed at the Alamo
Land Sold to Pay Public Debt – Land “script” was sold in the US for 50
cents per acre by act of 1836.
Grants for Education – 50 leagues (221,400 acres) were set aside to found
two universities
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Statehood
Since Texas as an independent country had accumulated an
approximately $8 million national debt, the US Senate was
unwilling to admit it as a state, but a compromise was
reached:
Texas would be responsible for its own public debt,
but would retain title to its own public lands as an
asset to liquidate that debt.
So, any land In Texas owned by the US Government was
acquired by purchase or donation. The sovereign in Texas
is Texas.
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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State Grants
Grants for Internal Improvements
Grants to pay Public debts
Grants to Railroads
Grants for Education
Grants for County Schools
Legislation making all public land part of the permanent
School Fund
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Texas Land System
A series of sequential, metes and bounds conveyances of land from the
sovereign to other ownership.
All descriptions of grant conveyances are recorded with the General Land
Office in Austin
Each original grant is assigned an “abstract” number to track subsequent
conveyances within the original grant.
Subsequent conveyances within abstracts are recorded at the appropriate
county courthouse.
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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A Patchwork Quilt
The result is a “patchwork quilt” of sequential conveyances
prone to gaps and overlaps whose construction is
predicated on correct application of statute and case law
instead of purely geometrical constructions.
Registered Professional Land Surveyors in Texas are expert at
making measurements and interpreting written descriptions
to establish land boundaries.
7/12/2016 UT-Dallas: Jack L. Lyle, RPLS
POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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Collin County Abstracts Example
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POEC 6381 Intro to GIS
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