A meridian is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface from the
North Pole to the South Pole that connects all locations with a
given longitude. Each is half of a great circle on the Earth's
surface. A principal meridian is the principal north-south line
used for survey control in a large region.
In the United States Public Land Survey System, a principal
meridian is the principal north-south line used for survey control
in a large region, and which divides townships between east and
west. The meridian meets its corresponding baseline at the point of
origin, or initial point, for the land survey. For example, the
Mount Diablo Meridian, used for surveys in California and Nevada,
runs through the summit of Mount Diablo. Often, meridians are
marked with roads, such as the Meridian Avenue in San Jose,
California, Meridian Road in Vacaville, California, both on the
Mount Diablo Meridian, and Meridian Road in Wichita, Kansas on the
Sixth Principal Meridian.
The present system of surveying Government lands, termed the
Land System of the United States, has developed from an ordinance
introduced before the Continental Congress May 7, 1784, termed "An
Ordinance for ascertaining the mode of locating and disposing of
lands in the Western Territory," and adopted by an act of Congress
passed May 7, 1785. It had no precedent in the theory or practice
of any pre-existing government, being the result of the highest
order of statesmanship, and exhibiting a profound knowledge of
engineering science in minute details. With a few unimportant
changes, it has been adopted by the Dominion of Canada. The
ordinance provided for townships six miles square, containing
thirty-six sections one mile square. The region embraced by the
surveys under this law forms a part of the present State of Ohio,
and is usually styled "Old Seven Ranges." The townships, six miles
square, were laid out in ranges extending northward from the Ohio
River, the townships being numbered from south to north, and the
ranges from east to west, in these initial surveys only the
exterior lines of the townships were surveyed, and mile corners
were established on the township lines, but the plats were marked
by subdivisions into sections of one mile square. The sections were
numbered from one to thirty-six, commencing with number one in the
southeast corner of the township, and running from south to north
in each tier to number thirty-six in the northwest corner of the
township.
These first public surveys were made under the direction of the
Geographer of the United States. The act of Congress approved May
18, 1796, provided for the appointment of a surveyor-general, and
directed the survey of the lands northwest of the Ohio River and
above the month of the Kentucky River, "in which the titles of the
Indian tribes have been extinguished." Under this law one-half of
the townships surveyed were subdivided into sections
‘‘by running through the same, each way, parallel lines
at the end of every two miles, and by making a corner on each of
said lines at the end of every mile," and it further provided that
‘‘the sections shall be numbered, respectively,
beginning with the number one in the northeast section, and
proceeding west and east alternately, through the township, with
progressive numbers till the thirty-sixth be completed.
The act of Congress, approved February 11, 1805, directs the
subdivision of the public lands into quarter sections, and provides
that all the corners marked in the public surveys shall be
established as the proper corners of sections or subdivisions of
sections which they were intended to designate, and that corners of
half and quarter sections not marked shall be placed as nearly as
possible ‘‘equidistant from those two corners which
stand on the same line.’’ The act of Congress, approved
April 25, 1812, provided ‘‘That there shall be
established in the Department of the Treasury an office to be
denominated the General Land Office, the chief officer of which
shall be called the Comissioner of the General Land Office, whose
duty it shall be, under the direction of the head of the
department, to superintend, execute, and perform all such acts and
things touching or respecting the public lands of the United States
and other lands patented or granted by the United States, as have
heretofore been directed by law to be done or performed in the
office of the Secretary of State, of the Secretary and Register of
the Treasury, and of the Secretary of War, or which shall hereafter
by law be assigned to the said office." The act of Congress,
approved July 4, 1836, provided for the reorganization of the
General Land Office, and that the executive duties of said office
"shall be subject to the supervision and control of the
commissioner of the General Land Office under the direction of the
President of the United States.’’ The repealing clause
is, ‘‘That such provisions of the act of the
twenty-fifth of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and
twelve, entitled ‘An act for the establishment of a General
Land Office in the Department of the Treasury, and of all acts
amendatory thereof as are inconsistent with the provisions of this
act, be and the same are hereby repealed.’’ From the
wording of this act, it would appear that the control of the
General Land Office was removed from the Treasury Department, and
that the Comissioner reported directly to the President ; but as a
matter of fact the Secretary of the Treasury still had supervisory
control, for the act of Congress, approved March 3, 1819, by which
the Department of the Interior was established. Provided
‘‘That the Secretary of the Interior shall perform all
the duties in relation to the General Land Office, of supervision
and appeal, now discharged by the Secretary of the Treasury. By
this act the General Land Office was transferred to the Department
of the Interior, where it still remains.
Ok here is what you need to do for me to log this EarthCache as
a find.
1.If you want but not needed post your picture with your GPS
where the sign was,(the sign is gone but the post is still standing
there,)
2. This is on a spot where 4 Indiana counties meet tell me three
of the four or all four counties. If you know how to read a map or
road signs. you will have no problem.