Plat Books at the Memorial Library
Plat books, or cadastral maps, contain township maps by county. They illustrate the location of property boundaries and label major landowners. Acreage information and local landmarks are shown. Public Land Survey System descriptions are included in the introduction of each book.
The PDFs below include holdings for plat books of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. All include counties and years. Historical plat books are in the Marilyn J. Lass Center for Minnesota Studies on the second floor.
Online Resources
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Minnesota Land Ownership, Detailed"Property boundary basemaps and ownership records are maintained at the county level, usually by the recorder's, assessor's or land surveyor's offices. Many Minnesota counties keep records in digital (computer-readable) format while others keep them as paper records. Note that the boundaries shown on the maps and the GIS data sets are approximate -- they are not substitutes for certified property surveys, legal property descriptions or detailed plat maps."
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GLO Historic Plat MapView, download, and print original public land surveys of Minnesota.
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Minnesota Digital LibraryThe Minnesota Digital Library offers a wealth of resources from various historical societies, libraries, archives, and cultural heritage organizations across Minnesota.
Other Regional Libraries and Collections
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John R. Borchert Map Library | University of MinnesotaThe Borchert Map Library has a plethora of Minnesota County plat books and atlases.
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The Michael Fox Map Collection | Minnesota Historical SocietyThe Minnesota Historical Society preserves early 20th century plat books and atlases.