Township, Range, and Section (TRS) Boundaries [Minnesota]
Minnesota Geospatial Commons
Full Details
- Title
- Township, Range, and Section (TRS) Boundaries [Minnesota]
- Description
- The TRS digital data set represents the Township, Range, and Section boundaries of the state. Beginning in the late 1840s, the federal government began surveying Minnesota as part of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). The resulting network of land survey lines divided the state into townships, ranges, sections, quarter sections, quarter-quarter sections and government lots, and laid the groundwork for contemporary land ownership patterns. The township, range and section boundaries were digitized at MnGeo (formerly known as the Land Management Information Center - LMIC) from stable base mylars of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 30-minute latitude by 60-minute longitude map series (1:100,000-scale). All survey lines were extended across water bodies despite the fact that U.S. Geological Survey base maps depict them only on land. This addition allows all sections and townships to be represented as closed areas (polygons) ensuring that township and range location can be determined for any point in the state. It also means that the data set is not affected if lake levels change over time., Many irregularities occur when the theory of the PLSS is applied to land surveys on the ground. However, the PLSS acts today as the structure around which all legal descriptions of land parcels in Minnesota are based. It is, therefore, an important framework for most geographic investigations that require information about land ownership. PLSS information is intended to be used for regional studies conducted at the county or multi-county level. The section lines are not meant to be used as legal records., The source for this data set is the USGS 30-minute latitude by 60-minute longitude map series (1:100,000-scale). The following list identifies each of the 71 Minnesota maps in the series by its published map name and the date of map publication. The publication dates range between 1976 and 1994: Ada 1984, Aitkin 1994, Albert Lea 1985, Angle Inlet 1985, Anoka 1985, Austin 1985, Basswood Lake 1977, Battle Lake 1986, Baudette 1976, Bigfork 1976, Blackduck 1978, Brainerd 1986, Brookings 1985, Brule Narrows 1978, Cass Lake 1977, Cavalier 1985, Clear Lake 1985, Crane Lake 1978, Crookston 1984, Detroit Lakes 1986, Duluth 1980, Ely 1994, Fairmont 1985, Fargo 1985, Faribault 1985, Fosston 1985, Glencoe 1986, Grafton 1985, Grand Forks 1985, Grand Marais 1977, Grand Portage 1985, Grantsburg 1985, Grygla 1977, Hallock 1985, Hastings 1985, Hibbing 1978, International Falls 1978, La Crosse 1990, Lake Itasca 1985, Lake Minnewaska 1986, Litchfield 1986, Littlefork 1978, Milbank 1985, Mille Lacs Lake 1985, Montevideo 1986, Mora 1991, New Ulm 1986, Oak Island 1985, Outer Island 1990, Pigeon Point 1985, Pine River 1976, Pokegama Lake 1992, Port Wing 1980, Rochester 1985, Roseau 1976, Saganaga Lake 1976, Saint Paul 1985, Sandstone 1980, Sioux Falls 1985, St. Cloud 1986, Stillwater 1985, Thief River Falls 1985, Tracy 1986, Two Harbors 1976, Upper Red Lake 1978, Vermillion Lake 1994, Wahpeton 1985, Wheaton 1985, Willmar 1986, Winona 1985, Worthington 1985.
- Creator
- Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo)
- Publisher
- Minnesota Geospatial Commons
- Rights
- None
- Access Rights
- Public
- Format
- Files
- Language
- English
- Date Added
- April 26, 2021
- Provenance Statement
- The metadata for this resource was last retrieved from the Minnesota Geospatial Commons on 2025-08-26.
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