A township has 36 sections, and here’s how land parcels fit on the map.

The 36-piece puzzle: what a township holds

If you’ve ever flipped through a land description and spotted a line about township, range, and section, you’re not alone. In the United States, many land records lean on a grid system that makes big, confusing parcels feel a little more manageable. This grid is part of something called the Public Land Survey System, a way to organize land as it was acquired and settled. For folks dealing with Waco title insurance and the land around it, understanding the township and its 36 sections can save a lot of headaches when you’re tracing boundaries, ownership, or rights of way.

A quick geography lesson: 6 by 6 miles

Here’s the core idea: a township is a square that measures six miles from side to side. That makes the township six miles north–south and six miles east–west, a neat 36 square miles in total. If you’ve ever heard land described as “in Township 3 North, Range 2 West,” that’s the language of the grid at work. Within that 6-by-6 mile square, the land is divided into 36 smaller pieces called sections. Each section is one mile by one mile, so it covers an area of 640 acres.

Think about it like a very orderly cake cut into 36 equal slices. Each slice is a section, and each slice can be talked about by its number. The numbers aren’t just random—surveyors and map readers use them to locate a parcel quickly on a map, much more precise than “the place near the old oak tree.” This clarity matters when you’re searching titles, confirming boundaries, or understanding where a grant or easement runs.

How the numbers march: a serpentine pattern

You might wonder, “How are those 36 sections arranged inside the township?” The short answer: the numbers snake through the grid. The exact pattern is a traditional convention, and the goal is to make a long, continuous sequence that surveyors can follow across the map without getting lost. In practice, that means the top row isn’t just a tidy 1 through 6 in straight order—well, it is, but the numbering then proceeds in a back-and-forth, meandering way as you move down the township.

The upshot is this: when you look at a plat or a deed describing Section 14 or Section 28, you’re not just seeing a number. You’re seeing a precise position within a standardized framework that ties land to its legal description. For title professionals, that certainty is priceless. It’s what helps link a piece of property to the larger narrative of how land was surveyed, sold, and developed.

From section to parcel: halves, quarters, and the rest

One reason the 36-section layout is so enduring is practicality. A single section (1 square mile) is already a manageable unit for ownership and sale. But real life rarely sells a square mile in one go. So, each section can be subdivided into smaller parcels. The most common divisions are halves and quarters, which become other familiar numbers in title work:

• Half sections: 320 acres (one half of 640)

• Quarter sections: 160 acres (one quarter of 640)

• Quarter-quarter sections: 40 acres (one quarter of a quarter)

And you’ll hear about government lots for odd shapes carved out of a section, especially near rivers or irregular boundaries. These subdivisions aren’t just fun trivia; they’re essential details that show up in deeds and surveys. If you’re tracing a chain of title, you’ll often see references to a “half-section” or a “quarter-section” to pin down the exact piece being described. That precision matters when a title search crosses several owners or when an easement or a road right-of-way slices through a corner lot.

Why this matters when you’re reading land records

So why bother with all this grid talk for title work in and around Waco? Because real property descriptions rely on precise language and well-known reference points. A deed might say something like: “the East Half of Section 22, Township X North, Range Y West, McLennan County, Texas.” Each clause anchors the parcel to a fixed spot on the map, reducing ambiguity.

A few practical takeaways:

• Boundary visibility: Section lines often appear on plats and in surveys as a network of straight lines. Knowing that each section is a one-mile square helps you visualize where the boundary actually lies, which is especially helpful when fences, hedges, or natural features cross property lines.

• Parcel sizing: If a parcel is described as a quarter-section, you know you’re dealing with about 160 acres, give or take any government lots or irregularities. That helps in estimating value, development potential, and accessibility.

• Tie-ins with rights and claims: Easements, rights-of-way, and mineral or water rights can run along section lines or across section corners. Understanding the grid makes it easier to spot conflicts or overlaps between properties.

A gentle caveat: Texas and the wider West have some local flavor

Texas land descriptions can involve a mix of metes and bounds language and PLSS references, especially in rural areas where historic surveys were recorded long ago. In fast-growing counties near Waco, you’ll see modern GIS maps that still rely on the same sectional grid to preserve compatibility with older deeds. So while the 36-section grid is a foundational concept, you’ll also encounter notes about irregular Government Lots or notes that shift geometry a bit to reflect actual ground measurements. It’s not a misprint—just a reminder that land descriptions are living tools that blend history with current mapping.

Tools and resources you can trust

If you want to visualize the township-and-section framework in real life, you’ve got options that don’t require a surveyor’s tape. A few reliable sources include:

• County plat maps and treasurer’s or clerk’s offices: These records often host official maps showing section lines within each township. They’re the source of truth for parcel boundaries in a given county.

• GIS portals: Modern geographic information systems let you toggle layers for townships, sections, and parcels. They’re especially handy for seeing how a particular quarter-section sits in relation to roads, rivers, and neighboring properties.

• Federal and state resources: The Public Land Survey System is documented in historical and modern formats by agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). They provide templates, standard descriptions, and reference maps.

• Field notes and surveys: When a property is described using old or complex language, the surveyor’s field notes can clarify questions about corner markers, line bearings, and any deviations from the ideal grid.

A quick mental model you can reuse

Here’s a simple way to keep the concept front and center:

• Picture a big square: six miles each side. That’s your township.

• Inside that square, imagine 36 little squares: each one mile by one mile. Those are the sections.

• If you need a smaller bite, consider halves (half a section) or quarters (a quarter of a section). And if a boundary line is a bit quirky, you might see a “government lot,” which reflects ground reality rather than the neat grid.

A few practical scenarios to keep in mind

Let me explain with a couple of real-world vibes:

• A rural homestead on a corner: Suppose a person owns the northeast quarter of Section 28, Township 10 North, Range 3 West. That description pins the parcel to a precise 160-acre slice of land—easy to locate on a map and straightforward to search in title records.

• An easement threading through multiple parcels: If a utility line crosses several sections, you might see the line described as running along the section lines or along a government lot within a section. The grid helps you trace where the easement begins and ends as it crosses from one parcel to another.

• A staking project near a river: Water features often push surveyors to carve out government lots or adjust quarter sections. Knowing that a section can hold irregular government lots helps you anticipate where the description might deviate from a clean, square picture.

A few words on readability and reliability

One of the perks of the 36-section township is readability. When someone says “Section 14,” you don’t have to guess where that piece sits. It becomes a fixed pin on the landscape, even when ownership changes hands. For title professionals, that stability is a quiet superpower. It reduces ambiguity during chain-of-title work and helps you spot potential boundary disputes before they grow legs.

But there are quirks worth noting. Deeds sometimes shuffle between “north-south” and “east-west” references, or they reference older survey lines that have since been amended. In those moments, the map becomes your best friend—an overlay that clarifies where the old line sits in today’s parcel reality. If you’re ever unsure, the prudent move is to check multiple sources: the deed, the plat, and the county GIS. It’s a little like cross-reading a map against a compass to verify you’re holding the same direction.

Wrap-up: why the 36-section layout still matters

In Waco and across the country, the township’s 36-section structure isn’t just an old-school relic. It’s a practical framework that underpins how land is described, transferred, and developed. It helps turning a sprawling landscape into manageable, identifiable pieces. It anchors legal descriptions to a shared map, making boundaries legible and search-friendly.

If you’ve ever stood on open prairie or peered at a rural plot and wondered how to read the line that marks the edge, you were looking at the heartbeat of the PLSS in action. The 36 sections give us a common language for talking about land, whether you’re mapping, buying, insuring, or planning a road, a field, or a home. And in a state as dynamic as Texas, where growth can feel almost geological, that clarity is a steadying force.

So next time you spot a Township–Range–Section reference, you’ll hear more than a sequence of numbers. You’ll hear a map—one that ties past surveys to present parcels, and it will tell you a story about land, ownership, and the steady logic that keeps property records honest and navigable. If you want a mental shortcut, picture that six-by-six-mile square, sliced into 36 neat pieces, each one ready for its own unique adventure.

Want to explore more? Look up a local plat map, compare it with a GIS layer, and notice how the section lines align with roads and property corners. It’s a small exercise, but it can illuminate how the land beneath your feet found its place in the long arc of ownership—and why the 36 sections in a township still matter in the file and on the map today.