Agricultural Land Use and Village Structure

Metes and Bounds, Longlots and Cadastres

Cadastral Survey System

• A system of demarcating property boundaries

• Denotes ownership as well as land characteristics– Cadastre = Tax registry

The Domesday Book1087

Metes & Bounds

• Method of surveying land using natural boundaries

• Plots can be quite irregular and uneven• Based on English system– Primarily used in Colonial US

Rectangular Survey System

• Came to dominate, especially in Western US• An antecedent survey system• Land defined by meridians and parallels

Township & Range System

• System adopted by US Public Land Survey System (PLSS)

• Each section = 1 square mile– Sold in whole, half and quarter sections

• Quick way to settle US West

Homestead Act 1862• Awards 160 acres (one

quarter section) for 5 years of farming

• Population on Great Plains grows dramatically

Central Pivot Irrigation

Longlot Survey System• Properties are surveyed back

from road or river– Long and narrow

• Predominates in French North America– Louisiana; Maine

Land Tenure Practices

• Primogeniture– Eldest son inherits entire farm– Common Northern Europe; Anglo World

• Subdivision– Farms divided among sons– More common in rest of world– Farm sizes decrease over time

Rural Villages

• Clustered– Village homes and business close

together– Farms on outskirts; can be

“commons”

• Dispersed– Houses and businesses widely

separated– Each house on individual farm

Linear Village

Cluster Village

Walled Village