When the Continental Congress adopted the Land Ordinance of 1785, this signaled the beginning of the Rectangular Public Land Survey System as a way of dividing land owned by the federal government for transfer of ownership to the general public.

After the United States granted title to a parcel of land, the jurisdiction over that land would then pass to the state it was within. Where those lands were in private ownership, it then became a function of the local or county surveyors to restore lost corners and to subdivide the sections. Today, the Miami County Surveyor's Office strives to perpetuate and maintain this system.