Corner Restoration Program

As Polk County was settled in 1845, it was clear that some system was needed to mark the limits of land ownership. In 1851 Instructions to the Surveyor General of Oregon; Being a Manual for Field Operations was printed. The manual was used as the basis of all the survey work and land division within Polk County and the State of Oregon.

Most of the Public Land surveying was done within the County between the 1850’s and 1860’s and this same system is used today.

Donation Land Claims refer to the land that was claimed by settlers before the survey systems had been implemented and before Oregon was considered a U.S. territory. Land claims were documented then by literally walking off boundaries and counting paces.

Information from this donation land claims then had to be translated to the 1851 Survey system of Townships, Ranges and Sections with a starting point at the Willamette Stone. This was used with the state of the art survey tools of the day. Today, Surveyors often have to walk the same paths of the surveyors of yesteryear to find and document property lines.

Because many of the monuments or markers that were used back in the 1850’s and later can’t be found or don’t meet our current standards, they need to be replaced. The Polk County surveyors make sure that these monuments or markers are replaced and brought to current standards. Replacing monuments or markers does not alter any property lines. The monuments that are being replaced mark the government corners for the Donation Land Claims.

Why is this Program Important?

1. All property legal descriptions (deeds) are referenced to these corners and monuments.
2. Ensures more accurate base maps for flood plain, fire, sheriff, schools and assessor.
3. Helps to define property lines for you and your neighbors for farming, building and fencing.
4. Surveys by private surveyors can be less expensive at the time you require them as the controlling monuments are in existence.

Types of Monuments

• The first survey monuments for the most part were made of wood stakes and witness/bearing trees. Over time, some corners have been updated with stones, iron rods, axles, iron pipes, bottles, posts, buggy parts etc.
• Current monuments are usually iron pipe or iron rods with brass or aluminum caps.

Types of Corners

• Donation Land Corner: this is a corner that marks the boundary of land that people had settled (and claimed) during the 1800’s.
• Township Corner: The corner of a 6 mile by 6 mile square area.
• Section Corner: The corner of a 1 mile by 1 mile square area. There are 36 sections in a township.
• ¼ Corner: The corner ½ way between 2 section corners (or a township corner and section corner).
• Meander Corner: This type of corner can be found along rivers and lakes.
• Angle Point: this is the point of a change in direction along any surveyed line.
• Other Types of Corners: Several other types of corners are found in the old survey system.