Which statement describes the rectangular survey system?

Which statement describes the rectangular survey system?

• A. It relies on street addresses and parcel numbers only
• B. It is identical to metes-and-bounds
• C. It uses only latitude and longitude without grid
• D. It uses a grid of meridians, baselines, townships, and ranges

Answer: (D)

The rectangular survey system builds land descriptions from a set grid: a principal meridian and a baseline establish the origin, and from there lines of range (east–west) and township (north–south) create a checkerboard. Each township covers 6 by 6 miles and is subdivided into 36 one-square-mile sections. This grid-based layout standardizes how property is described over large areas and is the framework used in much of the United States. It differs from metes-and-bounds, which describes land using distances and directions from natural or artificial markers, and from latitude/longitude, which is a geographic coordinate system rather than a land-description grid. Street addresses and parcel numbers are modern identifiers, not the way the rectangular survey describes property.

The rectangular survey system builds land descriptions from a set grid: a principal meridian and a baseline establish the origin, and from there lines of range (east–west) and township (north–south) create a checkerboard. Each township covers 6 by 6 miles and is subdivided into 36 one-square-mile sections. This grid-based layout standardizes how property is described over large areas and is the framework used in much of the United States. It differs from metes-and-bounds, which describes land using distances and directions from natural or artificial markers, and from latitude/longitude, which is a geographic coordinate system rather than a land-description grid. Street addresses and parcel numbers are modern identifiers, not the way the rectangular survey describes property.