Michigan meridian
The Michigan meridian is the principal meridian (or north–south line) used as a reference in the Michigan Survey, the survey of the U.S. state of Michigan in the early 19th century. It is located at 84 degrees, 21 minutes and 53 seconds west longitude[1] at its northern terminus at Sault Ste. Marie, and varies very little from that line down the length of the state.[citation needed]
History
The meridian was surveyed by Benjamin Hough in April 1815. The meridian was selected because it formed one of the principal boundary lines defined in the Treaty of Detroit in 1807, which was the first large cession of land by Native American peoples to the United States in the Michigan Territory. In that treaty, the boundary line was described as running due north from the mouth of the Auglaize River on the Maumee River, which was the site of Fort Defiance (now Defiance, Ohio).[2]
Michigan's
Geography
The Michigan meridian forms the boundary between several counties in Michigan:
in Chippewa and Mackinac counties are known as Meridian Road as well.In the area of Ohio known as the
A 10-mile-wide (16 km) strip of land was given to Indiana when it became a state in 1816. Since this land had not been surveyed, the Indiana portion was surveyed with the rest of Indiana. However, in Michigan, the southernmost tier of townships are truncated. The townships were surveyed and sections numbered as if they were in whole townships, except that the southernmost survey townships were only 6 by 3+1⁄2 miles (9.7 km × 5.6 km) instead of the usual 6 by 6 miles (9.7 km × 9.7 km) square (36 sq mi or 93 km2). Sections 19–24 in each township were chopped approximately in half, while sections 25–36 simply do not exist for these survey townships. To compensate for the smaller size, some of the civil townships formed from these survey townships were given additional sections of land from adjacent townships, as for example, White Pigeon Township in St. Joseph County and Three Oaks Township and New Buffalo Township in Berrien County. Some others of these smaller townships were merged into adjoining townships, as in Porter Township in Cass County. Similarly, many of the civil townships in Michigan along the Ohio border have somewhat more or less than the standard 36 square miles.
See also
- List of principal and guide meridians and base lines of the United States
- Meridian-Baseline State Park
References
- ^ Dept. of the Army, United States (1964). Special surveys (2nd ed.). New York: Headquarters, Department of the Army. p. 68.
- ^ Anderson, Mike (April 6, 2015). "Historical Marker Pays Fitting Tribute to Brave Surveyors in Ohio". Point of Beginning. Troy, Michigan: BNP Media. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015.
- ^ Sewick, Paul (March 13, 2017). "The Grid Part I: The Survey of Michigan". Detroit Urbanism: Uncovering the History of Our Roads, Borders and Built Environment.
Further reading
- "Cadastral Survey [Michigan Meridian]". U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Archived from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- "Principal Meridians and Base Lines". U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- "Michigan Meridian". Principal Meridian Project. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- "Michigan Meridian". The Center for Land Use Interpretation. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- "The Michigan Survey". Michigan State University, Department of Geography. Retrieved October 6, 2012.