| Land surveying in Ohio is said to be trickier than | | | | Survey, the Between the Miami Rivers Survey, |
| conducting surveys in any other area of the | | | | the Miami River Survey, the United States Military |
| United States. The history of land surveying in the | | | | Survey, the South and East of the First principal |
| Ohio area dates back to relatively early in | | | | Meridian Survey, the North and East of the First |
| American land survey history, and in part because | | | | Principal Meridian Survey, and the Michigan Survey. |
| of this, there are several land surveying systems | | | | In surveying history, Ohio is perhaps best known |
| in use across the state. In Ohio, land surveyors | | | | as the birthplace of the Public Land Survey |
| must work between more than a dozen distinct | | | | System, which is still in use today. This system |
| surveying systems, depending on the area of the | | | | split public land into townships of six miles by six |
| state; in many areas, two or more systems have | | | | miles. These would be divided into sections, each |
| previously been used to survey the same area of | | | | one mile square and containing 640 acres. The |
| land. | | | | first area surveyed under the Public Land Survey |
| The exploration of what is now Ohio began | | | | System was in eastern Ohio, and the work began |
| relatively early, by the French in 1669 and 1670. | | | | in 1785 with the Point of Beginning, or the |
| This area was disputed between the French and | | | | intersection of the Western boundary of |
| English until the French and Indian War, which | | | | Pennsylvania and the North bank of the Ohio |
| ended in 1763, assigning all of the area to England. | | | | River. |
| At this point, many large tracts in the area were | | | | The Virginia Military Survey, which started in 1787, |
| assigned to pay debts to the Penn family, the | | | | was a metes and bounds survey with tracts |
| Connecticut Colony, the Virginia Settlement, the | | | | varying from 100 to 15,000 acres; this land was |
| Massachusetts Bay Colony, and others. The | | | | granted to Revolutionary War veterans depending |
| English knew little about these lands due to their | | | | on their rank. Land shapes were not necessarily |
| distance; as a result, a lot of guesswork was | | | | rectangular, but drawn by the veteran himself to |
| involved in these transactions. Because of this, | | | | encompass the best available land. Over 16,000 |
| many of the grants overlapped, causing legal | | | | distinct land plots surveyed by the Virginia Military |
| problems almost since the start. | | | | Survey can be found in 23 countries across the |
| With the end of the Revolutionary War, the | | | | state, and is the only surveying system in Ohio |
| various colonies ceded certain areas to the newly | | | | not based on rectangular plots of land. |
| formed government, and this land would be sold | | | | Numerous other surveys were conducted to sell |
| to pay off war debts. The new government | | | | of the land in the Ohio area, both before and |
| needed a method to inventory and sell this land. | | | | after Ohio became a state in 1803. As the area |
| Because Ohio was then at the edge of the | | | | known as Ohio developed, numerous other |
| Western frontier, it was the testing ground for | | | | survey systems were used to divide the land |
| many different surveys, including nine major | | | | again and again. Other survey types included |
| survey systems and 46 smaller ones. The major | | | | three-, four-, or six-mile square survey townships. |
| surveys in Ohio include the Ohio River Survey | | | | In order to survey land in Ohio, one must be |
| (the first PLSS survey), the Virginia Military | | | | familiar with each of these surveys. |
| Survey, the Connecticut Western Reserve | | | | |