Blog · September 30, 2026
How to Read a Line Table
A line table lists bearing and distance for each numbered straight segment when those numbers would clutter the map. The number on the line must match the row. A line table is only the straight courses. Curves stay in the curve table.
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Why the numbers left the drawing
Small lots, townhouse rows, and easement details pack dozens of short courses into a corner of the sheet. Rather than stack text on the lines, the drafter numbers each segment and prints L1, L2, L3 in a table with bearing and length. The map shows the shape and the numbers. The table gives the calls. Reading the shape without the table gives you a cartoon. Reading the table without matching numbers gives you a list of courses in the wrong order. The order around a lot is the order of the numbers as you walk the boundary, which is often not the numerical order in the table. Tables are frequently sorted by number, not by the walk. You impose the walk by following the lot around.
What a row does not include
A line-table row is a straight course. If a boundary alternates lines and curves, you will jump from the line table to the curve table and back. Dropping the curves because they live on another schedule opens a gap in the figure. Some rows are easement sides, not lot lines. The numbering scheme may prefix E or use a different series. A leader that points to an easement leg must be read as the easement. Including it as a lot side will kink the parcel. Inches and hundredths matter here because the segments are short. Rounding every course to the nearest foot can move a townhouse corner by more than the wall thickness. Keep the hundredths until you are done closing the figure.
Checks that stay off the ground
You can add the courses in order and see whether the lot closes on paper within a reasonable rounding. A failure to close means a dropped row, a reversed bearing, or a curve you skipped. It does not mean you go outside and average the building corners with a laser measure. The building may overhang the line or sit back from it. County GIS will not show L-numbers. Platbookmapper will not import the table. The recorded plat is the source, including any affidavit that corrects a single row. If one distance is corrected, replace that row and leave the others. Do not restake the block from a handheld GPS because one table cell was amended.
What to do next
- Match each line number on the lot to its row before you copy the next.
- Walk the boundary in order, switching to the curve table when the line becomes an arc.
- Keep easement rows out of the lot walk unless the easement is the line you are reading.
- Preserve hundredths on short courses.
The mix-up to avoid
Reading the table from top to bottom as if it were the deed’s order. The table is a lookup. The map is the sequence.
Questions people ask
What if a number is on the map and missing in the table?
Treat the plat as incomplete on its face and look for another sheet, a detail, or a correction. Do not measure the PDF with a ruler to supply the missing course. Scale off a scan is not the record distance.
Can two sheets reuse line numbers?
Yes. L1 on sheet 2 may be a different line from L1 on sheet 1. Keep the sheet number with the line number. A match line does not mean the tables merge.
Find the county map
The county GIS map is the practical place to start. Find it from the Platbookmapper directory, then treat the recorded plat and deed as the documents behind the picture.
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey.