The Section and Quarter system has been used in Plain since the beginning of land sale. It works as follows: Plain Township is a six mile square. Sections are marked on the township maps and are one mile squares within the Township boundaries. This creates 36 sections within the township.
Numbering the sections is not done in a way that you might expect. The sequence begins in the right upper corner (NE) and continues to the left across the top (N) of the map—each section has one number. When the left side (NW) corner is reached, the sequence goes immediately under the 6 and the second horizontal row begins with a 7. The numbering continues across and the second row ends with 12. The third horizontal row starts with 13. The pattern is repeated back and forth in a serpentine manner until the last section is reached in the lower right hand corner—number 36.
| 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 |
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
The Quarters are each Section divided into four equal smaller squares which are a half-mile square. The Quarters follow logical directions.
| NW | NE |
| SW | SE |
To use Section and Quarter directions simply locate the Section (on many maps they are numbered) and then apply the Quarter rule for narrowing the area. By using this information one can find the area of someone’s home to a half-mile square.
To find Sections and Quarters for a property you can check the Stark County Auditors website. Historic property information can be found on old abstracts, the index to Section Land Records or using old maps.
