Blog · September 30, 2026
What Is a Government Lot?
A government lot is a numbered parcel in a fractional section, created by the government survey where a regular aliquot part would not fit. Lot 1 of a section is not Lot 1 of a city block. The section number and the plat tell you which lot is meant.
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Why the survey numbered lots
Regular quarter-quarters do not fill a section that is cut by a lake, or a section on the north or west side of a township where the leftover distance was placed. The survey assigned lot numbers to those irregular pieces and showed them on the township plat with areas. A deed that says government lot 3 of section 6, or Lot 3, Section 6, Township 4 North, Range 2 West, is pointing at that plat. The same words Lot 3 in a subdivision mean a lot on a different plat. Context is the whole reading skill. If the caption continues with a town, a subdivision name, and a block, you are in lot-and-block. If it continues with section, township, range, and a meridian, you are likely in a government lot.
Where the lines come from
The lot lines are the lines the government survey drew: section lines, quarter lines, and meander lines, as the plat shows. The acreage printed on the GLO plat is the official area used in the patent for that lot. Later deeds may say more or less. A tax map may have split the government lot into smaller parcels or combined it with the next lot. Those tax parcels are assessment units. They do not erase the government lot lines. If you need the shape, get the township plat and any later dependent resurvey, not a screenshot of the assessor. Measuring the lot with a wheel from a road you think is the section line assumes the road is the line. Often it is only near the line.
How patents used them
The patent conveyed the numbered lot by reference to the official plat. That reference pulls the plat into the deed. Reading the patent without the plat leaves you with a number and no shape. Reading the plat without the patent leaves you with a picture and no chain of title. You want both, plus later deeds that may have cut the lot. Platbookmapper will not serve the GLO plat. It links to modern county GIS, which may show a parcel that happens to coincide with the government lot and may not. Use the GIS to find the local parcel id, then read the patent description against the official plat.
What to do next
- Check whether Lot is tied to a section or to a block.
- Get the township plat that drew the government lot.
- Note the lot’s record acreage from that plat.
- Do not confuse it with a subdivision lot that reused the same number.
The mix-up to avoid
Opening the subdivision plat for Lot 1 when the deed says Lot 1 of Section 18. The number matches. The plat does not. The land is somewhere else.
Questions people ask
Are government lots always along the water?
No. Many lie along the north and west tiers of a township, where excess or deficiency was thrown. Others front meandered water. The township plat shows which case you have.
Can a government lot be split later?
Yes. Later owners may convey halves or metes-and-bounds pieces. Those later deeds have to be read on their own. The government lot remains the parent figure they came out of.
Find the county map
Start at Platbookmapper, search the county, and open the local GIS link. Write down the parcel number before you compare the screen to a paper plat.
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.