Original Land Subdivisions of Ohio

MG-2 version 2.1 2003 (revised 2006)
Compiled by James McDonald, Joseph G. Wells, James W. Wright, Christian D. Steck, Lawrence H. Wickstrom, Brian D. Gara, and Lap Van Nguyen

Cartography by Donovan M. Powers

Featured in American Surveyor magazine (2004), this map and digital data set represents the first digital compilation of the original Ohio land subdivisions on a statewide basis. Ohio was the first state whose lands were subdivided by the federal government and sold off or given to the public. Soon after the end of the Revolutionary War, land in Ohio was sold to assist in paying the national debt or was given to veterans of the Revolutionary War to compensate them for their service. Various land subdivision schemes were tried in portions of Ohio before the standard Public Land Surveying System (PLSS) of subdivision was adopted. The PLSS scheme, originally applied in northwestern Ohio over 200 years ago, was used subsequently for surveying the rest of the United States. The map and data set were compiled for use at county- to statewide-scale purposes and cannot be used for applications such as determination of property boundaries. However, the map and data do provide an important index of the original land subdivisions for use as a geographic and historic reference and within many geographic information system (GIS) applications.

Map price: $15.00
Digital data price: $25.00
(plus sales tax and shipping)
Please see PDF for ordering information [133 KB PDF]