Seven Ranges Terminus
Encyclopedia
Seven Ranges Terminus is a stone surveying marker near Magnolia, Ohio
that marks the completion of the first step in opening the lands northwest of the Ohio River
to sale and settlement by Americans
. This survey marked the first application of the rectangular plan for subdividing land.
, the Treaty of Paris
granted the United States
lands north of the Ohio River, south of the Great Lakes
, and east of the Mississippi River
, called the Northwest Territory
. The US Congress
adopted the Land Ordinance of 1785
as a method for surveying, selling and settling these lands. This ordinance established a method for surveying the land into a grid of six mile square survey township
s. These townships were to be arranged into vertical rows called “Ranges”. The first ranges were to be measured from a meridian
along the western boundary of Pennsylvania
. The townships in each range were measured from an east-west line called a baseline
. This became the genesis of the techniques used in the Public Land Survey System
.
The 1785 ordinance called for the Geographer of the United States, Thomas Hutchins
, to personally supervise the first survey. It called for Hutchins to establish a Point of Beginning
on the north bank of the Ohio River where it leaves Pennsylvania. From there he was to establish a baseline seven ranges wide, (42 miles), called the “Geographer’s Line”, and then survey north-south lines each six miles to mark the edges of the ranges, and then establish the south boundary of each township. After each seven ranges had been completed, the Geographer was to return plats to the federal government for marketing and sale.
Hutchins, along with prominent surveyors from ten states appointed by Congress, began surveying the Geographer’s Line in 1785, but stopped after only a few miles because of troubles with Indians
. In 1786, with protection of troops from Fort Steuben
, Hutchins resumed the survey. On September 1786, Hutchins placed a stone cadastral survey marker at the west edge of the seventh range on the Geographer’s Line, a spot later to be known as the Seven Ranges Terminus. After the first surveyed seven ranges had been completed some years later, the survey tract was known as the Seven Ranges
, or Old Seven Ranges.
The marker is property of the federal government, but surrounded by private property. It sits about 288 feet to the west of a public road.
The granite
cadastral survey marker
is six inches square in cross section with an inscribed X on top, and about a foot protrudes from the ground. Much more is buried. The Canton Repository said August 7, 2003 that the stone leans somewhat because someone tried to dig it up some years ago, before realizing how deep it is buried. Another plausible reason for lean would be two centuries of frost heave.
The Seven Ranges Terminus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976 for its association with the historic significance of Thomas Hutchins.
Magnolia, Ohio
Magnolia is a village in Carroll and Stark Counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 931 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Canton–Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
that marks the completion of the first step in opening the lands northwest of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to sale and settlement by Americans
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
. This survey marked the first application of the rectangular plan for subdividing land.
History
With victory in the Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
granted the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lands north of the Ohio River, south of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, and east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, called the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
. The US Congress
Congress of the Confederation
The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America that existed from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second...
adopted the Land Ordinance of 1785
Land Ordinance of 1785
The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress on May 20, 1785. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation of the inhabitants of the United States...
as a method for surveying, selling and settling these lands. This ordinance established a method for surveying the land into a grid of six mile square survey township
Survey township
Survey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of land, that is nominally six miles on a side...
s. These townships were to be arranged into vertical rows called “Ranges”. The first ranges were to be measured from a meridian
Meridian (geography)
A meridian is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface from the North Pole to the South Pole that connects all locations along it with a given longitude. The position of a point along the meridian is given by its latitude. Each meridian is perpendicular to all circles of latitude...
along the western boundary of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The townships in each range were measured from an east-west line called a baseline
Baseline (surveying)
In the United States Public Land Survey System, a baseline is the principal east-west line that divides survey townships between north and south. The baseline meets its corresponding meridian at the point of origin, or initial point, for the land survey...
. This became the genesis of the techniques used in the Public Land Survey System
Public Land Survey System
The Public Land Survey System is a method used in the United States to survey and identify land parcels, particularly for titles and deeds of rural, wild or undeveloped land. Its basic units of area are the township and section. It is sometimes referred to as the rectangular survey system,...
.
The 1785 ordinance called for the Geographer of the United States, Thomas Hutchins
Thomas Hutchins
Thomas Hutchins was an American military engineer, cartographer, geographer and surveyor.He joined the militia during the French and Indian War and later took a regular commission with British forces...
, to personally supervise the first survey. It called for Hutchins to establish a Point of Beginning
Beginning Point of the U.S. Public Land Survey
The Beginning Point of the U.S. Public Land Survey is a monument at the border between the U.S. states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, on the north side of the Ohio River. It is near the three-way intersection of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the northern tip of West Virginia, in both the Pittsburgh...
on the north bank of the Ohio River where it leaves Pennsylvania. From there he was to establish a baseline seven ranges wide, (42 miles), called the “Geographer’s Line”, and then survey north-south lines each six miles to mark the edges of the ranges, and then establish the south boundary of each township. After each seven ranges had been completed, the Geographer was to return plats to the federal government for marketing and sale.
Hutchins, along with prominent surveyors from ten states appointed by Congress, began surveying the Geographer’s Line in 1785, but stopped after only a few miles because of troubles with Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. In 1786, with protection of troops from Fort Steuben
Fort Steuben
Fort Steuben was a fortification erected in present day Steubenville, Ohio in the 18th century to provide protection from Indians for the first surveyors to venture into the Northwest Territory.-History:...
, Hutchins resumed the survey. On September 1786, Hutchins placed a stone cadastral survey marker at the west edge of the seventh range on the Geographer’s Line, a spot later to be known as the Seven Ranges Terminus. After the first surveyed seven ranges had been completed some years later, the survey tract was known as the Seven Ranges
Seven Ranges
The Seven Ranges was a land tract in eastern Ohio that was the first tract to be surveyed in what became the Public Land Survey System. The tract is across the northern edge, on the western edge, with the south and east sides along the Ohio River...
, or Old Seven Ranges.
The Survey Marker
The survey marker lies at the corner of four townships, three counties, and three surveys tracts:- Rose Township, Carroll County, OhioRose Township, Carroll County, OhioRose Township is one of the fourteen townships of Carroll County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,603 people in the township, 1,289 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
Township 16, Range 7 of Old Seven Ranges - Sandy Township, Stark County, OhioSandy Township, Stark County, OhioSandy Township is one of the seventeen townships of Stark County, Ohio, United States. The 2010 census found 3,675 people in the township; this was a slight decrease from the 2000 census, which found 3,679 people in the township, 2,059 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the...
Township 17, Range 7 of Congress Lands North of Old Seven RangesCongress Lands North of Old Seven RangesThe Congress Lands North of the Old Seven Ranges was a land tract in northeast Ohio that was established by the Congress early in the 19th century... - Pike Township, Stark County, OhioPike Township, Stark County, OhioPike Township is one of the seventeen townships of Stark County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 4,088 people in the township, 3,282 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
Township 8, Range 8 of Congress Lands North of Old Seven Ranges - Sandy Township, Tuscarawas County, OhioSandy Township, Tuscarawas County, OhioSandy Township is one of the twenty-two townships of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 3,354 people in the township, 2,513 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
Township 10, Range 1 of United States Military DistrictUnited States Military DistrictThe United States Military District was a land tract in central Ohio that was established by the Congress to compensate veterans of the American Revolutionary War for their service...
The marker is property of the federal government, but surrounded by private property. It sits about 288 feet to the west of a public road.
The granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
cadastral survey marker
Cadastre
A cadastre , using a cadastral survey or cadastral map, is a comprehensive register of the metes-and-bounds real property of a country...
is six inches square in cross section with an inscribed X on top, and about a foot protrudes from the ground. Much more is buried. The Canton Repository said August 7, 2003 that the stone leans somewhat because someone tried to dig it up some years ago, before realizing how deep it is buried. Another plausible reason for lean would be two centuries of frost heave.
The Seven Ranges Terminus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976 for its association with the historic significance of Thomas Hutchins.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Carroll County, OhioNational Register of Historic Places listings in Carroll County, OhioThis is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Carroll County, Ohio.It is intended to be a complete list of the properties on the National Register of Historic Places in Carroll County, Ohio, United States...
- Ohio LandsOhio LandsThe Ohio Lands were the myriad grants, tracts, districts and cessions which make up what is now the U.S. state of Ohio. The Ohio Country was one of the first settled parts of the Midwest, and indeed one of the first settled parts of the United States beyond the original 13 colonies...