Township and range is a rectangular survey system used in the United States that divides rural land into a uniform grid of 6-mile by 6-mile townships, producing square and rectangular parcels and the dispersed, checkerboard settlement pattern of the Midwest (AP Human Geography Topic 5.2, EK PSO-5.B.3).
Township and range is one of the three rural survey methods named in the AP Human Geography CED (EK PSO-5.B.3), alongside metes and bounds and long lot. Created by the Land Ordinance of 1785, it divides land into a giant grid. Each township is a 6-mile by 6-mile square, which gets sliced into 36 one-square-mile sections, which get cut again into smaller squares for individual farms. "Township" refers to the rows running east-west and "range" refers to the columns running north-south off a baseline and principal meridian.
The big idea is that the grid was drawn by the government before settlers arrived, completely ignoring rivers, hills, and soil quality. That's why it works best on flat, featureless land like the Great Plains and Midwest, and why it would be the LEAST effective choice in rugged terrain with irregular natural features. Fly over Iowa and you'll see the result on the cultural landscape, perfect squares of farmland with roads meeting at right angles and farmsteads spread evenly across the grid.
This term lives in Unit 5 (Agriculture and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes), Topic 5.2, under learning objective 5.2.A, which asks you to identify rural settlement patterns and survey methods. The CED explicitly names township and range in EK PSO-5.B.3, so it's fair game on any exam. The deeper payoff is the connection to EK PSO-5.B.2. Survey methods and settlement patterns come as a package. Township and range produces a dispersed settlement pattern, because each family received its own square parcel and built a farmstead in the middle of it, far from neighbors. It's also a clean example of how government policy gets literally stamped onto the cultural landscape, a theme AP Human Geo loves.
Keep studying AP® Human Geography Unit 5
Long-lot survey method (Unit 5)
Long lot is township and range's main contrast within the same EK. French long lots are thin strips running back from a river so every farm gets water access, creating a linear settlement pattern. Township and range ignores rivers entirely and creates a dispersed one. If an exam question describes parcel shape, the survey method tells you the settlement pattern, and vice versa.
Clustered rural settlement patterns (Unit 5)
Township and range is basically the anti-cluster. In clustered settlements (like New England villages or European farm towns), homes bunch together and fields surround the village. The American grid handed each family an isolated square, so farmsteads scattered evenly across the landscape instead. Knowing this contrast lets you decode a map or aerial photo instantly.
Government policies (Unit 5)
Township and range exists because of policy, not geography. The Land Ordinance of 1785 set up the grid, and later the Homestead Act handed out parcels from it. It's a go-to example whenever AP asks how government decisions shape agricultural land use and the rural cultural landscape.
Christaller's Central Place Theory (Unit 4/Unit 5 applications)
The evenly dispersed farms of the township and range region created the regularly spaced market towns of the Midwest, which is close to the uniform-plain assumption Christaller's model needs. The survey grid helps explain why central place theory fits the American Midwest better than almost anywhere else.
Township and range shows up mostly in multiple choice, usually in one of three disguises. First, a matching question gives you a description (square parcels, grid roads, evenly spaced Midwest farmsteads) and asks which survey method produced it. Second, a reverse question asks which method would fail in hilly terrain with irregular natural features (answer: township and range, since the grid ignores topography). Third, a cultural landscape question asks what consequence the system left on the land, such as the checkerboard field pattern visible from the air. No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but it's a strong piece of evidence for any free-response prompt about how survey systems, settlement patterns, or government policy shape rural landscapes. The key skill is pairing each survey method with its settlement pattern and its region.
These are opposite philosophies of dividing land. Metes and bounds uses natural features like trees, streams, and boulders as boundaries, producing irregular, oddly shaped parcels (common in the eastern US, settled before 1785). Township and range imposes a uniform geometric grid that ignores natural features, producing square parcels (common west of the Appalachians). If the question mentions irregular shapes or natural landmarks as borders, it's metes and bounds. If it mentions squares, grids, or right angles, it's township and range.
Township and range is a rectangular survey system that divides US land into 6-mile by 6-mile townships, each split into 36 one-square-mile sections.
It was created by the Land Ordinance of 1785 to organize land west of the Appalachians before settlers arrived.
The grid produces a dispersed rural settlement pattern, with isolated farmsteads spaced evenly across square parcels.
Because the grid ignores topography, township and range works best on flat land and is the least effective survey method in rugged or irregular terrain.
Its lasting cultural landscape signature is the checkerboard of square fields and grid roads you can see from a plane over the Midwest.
On the exam, pair each survey method with its pattern: metes and bounds goes with irregular parcels, long lot goes with linear river strips, and township and range goes with dispersed squares.
It's a rectangular survey method from the Land Ordinance of 1785 that divides US land into a grid of 6-mile by 6-mile townships, each containing 36 one-square-mile sections. It's one of three survey methods named in EK PSO-5.B.3, along with metes and bounds and long lot.
A dispersed settlement pattern. Each family got its own square parcel and built a farmstead in the middle of it, so homes ended up evenly spread out rather than clustered in villages. This is the classic Midwest landscape of isolated farms on a road grid.
Township and range imposes a uniform grid of squares regardless of terrain, while metes and bounds uses natural features like streams and trees as boundaries, creating irregular parcels. Metes and bounds dominates the eastern US settled before 1785; township and range dominates the Midwest and West.
Yes, in the sense that its boundaries are baked into the landscape. Property lines, county roads, and field divisions across the Midwest and West still follow the grid laid out starting in 1785, which is why aerial photos show a checkerboard pattern.
In areas with significant topographic variation, like mountains or land cut up by rivers. The grid ignores natural features, so it's inefficient in rugged terrain. This is a common AP multiple-choice angle, asking which survey method is least effective in irregular landscapes.
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