United States Land and Property

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Beginners' Corner What are United States land records? What time periods and locations do they cover? What can I find in them? How do I access them? Search strategies

Introduction

Emigrants Crossing the Plains

The availability of land attracted many immigrants to America and encouraged westward expansion. Land ownership was generally recorded in an area as soon as settlers began to arrive. These important records sometimes exist when few other records are available.

Land records are primarily used to learn where an individual lived and when he lived there. They often reveal other family information, such as the name of a spouse, heir, other relatives, or neighbors. You may learn where a person lived previously, his occupation, if he had served in the military, if he was a naturalized citizen, and other clues for further research

The Land Acquisition Process

In the United States, land is acquired in basically one of two ways; from the government or from an individual. The first sale of land from the government to a person is called a grant or a patent. Thereafter, the sale of that land from a person is called a deed.

Government to Person Government Land Grants Colonial Land Federal Land State Land

Person to Person Deeds County and Town Records Inheriting Land Land Companies/Railroads

United States

Federal Land States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado District of Columbia Florida Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon South Dakota Utah Washington Wisconsin Wyoming	Federal land states (blue) & state land states (brown) State Land States Connecticut Delaware Georgia Hawaii Kentucky Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hamsphire New Jersey New York North Carolina Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia
United States

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