Sometimes it’s hard to determine where you are when using Section, Township and Range Maps. So to help provide more geographic context when searching for a land parcel, county information has now been added to the Section Township Range on Google Maps tool.
For example, let’s do the following “Find parcel” at the bottom of the map:
That will show the following map, now including the county name on top as well as dashed gray lines for the county boundaries, like this:
Note the county name shown in the upper right (highlighted with the red box above), and the county line is just to the left of the blue dot on the map. So as of today, that parcel is located in Elmore County, Idaho.
But what if you’re doing historical research and want to know what county that exact location was part of in December 20, 1879 when your ancestor moved there? Here’s how to find out:
Highlight the Longitude, Latitude numbers and type Ctrl+C to copy them to your clipboard (highlight just the numbers as shown below):
Now, go over to the Historical U.S. Counties on Google Maps tool. Once it loads, simply click into the “Search places” box above the map, type Ctrl+V to paste the values from the clipboard, and choose the first item that appears:
Then simply type 12/20/1879 in the “As of date” box at the top of the map, and feel free to zoom in for a closer look:
You can see that parcel (based on that longitude, latitude pasted) was located in now-extinct Alturas County, Idaho Territory as of 20 Dec 1879.
I hope this addition of county information is useful, and now you know another way to search for places as well, this time using longitude, latitude!
For those who have read this far, if you’re interested in Ad-Free, Full-Screen Map and Search Tools, you now have an option to get access to that! Learn more about it here: NEW: Enjoy ALL of the map and search tools AD-FREE and FULL-SCREEN!
Check this post for more background on the Public Land Survey System, aka Township Range, aka Congressional Townships.
Wishing you and your families and friends a wonderful holiday season!
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