Layers in this dataset represent Public Land Survey System subdivisions for Canadian County. Included are Townships, Sections, Quarter Sections and Government Lots. This data was created from 2019 to 2021 as part of a project to update county parcel data in partnership with ProWest & Associates (https://www.prowestgis.com/) and CEC Corporation (https://www.connectcec.com/). Corners were located to the quarter section level and additional corners were determined for the South Canadian River meanders based on the original government surveys. Quarter section corners were located using Certified Corner Records ( filed by Oklahoma licensed professional surveyors with the Oklahoma Department of Libraries where those records included coordinates. When a corner record could not be found or did not include coordinates, other interpolation methods were employed. These included connecting known corner record locations to unknown corners using data from filed subdivisions or from highway plans on record with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Where no corner records with coordinates were available and no interpolation methods could be used, aerial inspection was used to locate corners as the last option.Corner location accuracy varies as the method of locating the corner varies. For corners located using Certified Corner Records, accuracy is high depending on the age of the corner record and can possibly be less than 1 U.S. Foot. For corners located using interpolation methods, accuracy depends on the additional material used to interpolate the corner. In general, newer subdivisions and highway plans yield higher accuracy. For meander corners located using original government surveys, accuracy will be low due to the age of those surveys which date to the 1870's at the earliest. Additionally, corners that were located with aerials as the last available option cannot be assumed to be accurate.The data was built at the quarter section level first by connecting located corners and larger subdivisions were created from the quarter sections. For townships that extend into Grady County, township lines were only roughly located outside sections not in Canadian County.

This data represents the GIS Version of the Public Land Survey System including both rectangular and non-rectangular survey data. The rectangular survey data are a reference system for land tenure based upon meridian, township/range, section, section subdivision and government lots. The non-rectangular survey data represent surveys that were largely performed to protect and/or convey title on specific parcels of land such as mineral surveys and tracts. The data are largely complete in reference to the rectangular survey data at the level of first division. However, the data varies in terms of granularity of its spatial representation as well as its content below the first division. Therefore, depending upon the data source and steward, accurate subdivision of the rectangular data may not be available below the first division and the non-rectangular minerals surveys may not be present. At times, the complexity of surveys rendered the collection of data cost prohibitive such as in areas characterized by numerous, overlapping mineral surveys. In these situations, the data were often not abstracted or were only partially abstracted and incorporated into the data set. These PLSS data were compiled from a broad spectrum or sources including federal, county, and private survey records such as field notes and plats as well as map sources such as USGS 7 ½ minute quadrangles. The metadata in each data set describes the production methods for the data content. This data is optimized for data publication and sharing rather than for specific "production" or operation and maintenance. A complete PLSS data set includes the following: PLSS Townships, First Divisions and Second Divisions (the hierarchical break down of the PLSS Rectangular surveys) PLSS Special surveys (non-rectangular components of the PLSS) Meandered Water, Corners, Metadata at a Glance (which identified last revised date and data steward) and Conflicted Areas (known areas of gaps or overlaps or inconsistencies). The Entity-Attribute section of this metadata describes these components in greater detail. The second division of the PLSS is quarter, quarter-quarter, sixteenth or government lot division of the PLSS. The second and third divisions are combined into this feature class as an intentional de-normalization of the PLSS hierarchical data. The polygons in this feature class represent the smallest division to the sixteenth that has been defined for the first division. For example In some cases sections have only been divided to the quarter. Divisions below the sixteenth are in the Special Survey or Parcel Feature Class. In the Public Land Survey System a Township refers to a unit of land, that is nominally six miles on a side, usually containing 36 sections.