Principal Meridians and Base Lines Governing the United States Public Land Surveys

The "Rectangular Survey System" includes numbered and locally named "Principal Meridians (north/south) and Base Lines (east/west)". They were established to govern the United States Public Land Surveys and are displayed on various State maps and topographic maps published by the United States Geological Survey. Coordinates of their intersections are listed below. One can locate a parcel of land if its "Range" and "Township" designation is known (See the Rectangular Survey System page).

Meridian	Adopted	Governing surveys (wholly or in part) in States of	Latitude (D-M-S)	Longitude (D-M-S)
Black Hills	1878	South Dakota	43 59 44	104 03 16
Boise	1867	Idaho	43 22 21	116 23 35
Chickasaw	1833	Mississippi	35 01 58	89 14 47
Choctaw	1821	do	31 52 32	90 14 41
Cimarron	1881	Oklahoma	36 30 05	103 00 07
Copper River	1905	Alaska	61 49 04	145 18 37
Fairbanks	1910	do	64 51 50.048	147 38 25.949
Fifth Principal	1815	Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota	34 38 45	91 03 07
First Principal	1819	Ohio and Indiana	40 59 22	84 48 11
Fourth Principal	1815	Illinois	40 00 50	90 27 11
do	1831	Minnesota and Wisconsin	42 30 27	90 25 37
Gila and Salt River	1865	Arizona	33 22 38	112 18 19
Humboldt	1853	California	40 25 02	124 07 10
Huntsville	1807	Alabama and Mississippi	34 59 27	86 34 16
Indian	1870	Oklahoma	34 29 32	97 14 49
Kateel River	1956	Alaska	65 26 16.374	158 45 31.014
Louisiana	1807	Louisiana	31 00 31	92 24 55
Michigan	1815	Michigan and Ohio	42 25 28	84 21 53
Mount Diablo	1851	California and Nevada	37 52 54	121 54 47
Navajo	1869	Arizona	35 44 56	108 31 59
New Mexico Principal	1855	Colorado and New Mexico	34 15 35	106 53 12
Principal	1867	Montana	45 47 13	111 39 33
Salt Lake	1855	Utah	40 46 11	111 53 27
San Bernardino	1852	California	34 07 13	116 55 48
Second Principal	1805	Illinois and Indiana	38 28 14	86 27 21
Seward	1911	Alaska	60 07 37	149 21 26
Sixth Principal	1855	Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming	40 00 07	97 22 08
St. Helena	1819	Louisiana	30 59 56	91 09 36
St. Stephens	1805	Alabama and Mississippi	30 59 51.463	88 01 21.076
Tallahassee	1824	Florida and Alabama	30 26 03	84 16 38
Third Principal	1805	Illinois	88 28 27	89 08 54
Uintah	1875	Utah	40 25 59	109 56 06
Umiat	1956	Alaska	69 23 29.654	152 00 04.551
Ute	1880	Colorado	39 06 23	108 31 59
Washington	1803	Mississippi	30 59 56	91 09 36
Willamette	1851	Oregon and Washington	45 31 11	122 44 34
Wind River	1875	Wyoming	48 00 41	108 48 49