Welcome to the . . . . 
Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database

(Search by Legal Description)

A Database Compiled by the Illinois State Archives

Entering Search Criteria
The Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales database may be searched by county or by legal description. The following types of geographic searches may be conducted:

• Search by township, range, section and meridian. Choose a township, section, range and meridian number from the drop-down menus. Townships are located north and south of baselines. Ranges are located east and west of principal meridians. You must select a direction for both township and range from the drop-down menus.
• Search by township, range and meridian. Choose a township, range and meridian number from the drop-down menus. Townships are located north and south of baselines. Ranges are located east and west of principal meridians. You must select a direction for both township and range from the drop-down menus.
• Search by county. Use the county option box to return a list of public domain land tract sales for one specific county. To search by legal description, the name of county must be set to STATEWIDE. The name of county cannot be used in combination with any other search criteria.

For example, if you were looking for all of the purchasers of land in Section 36 of Township 25 North, Range 4 East of the Third Principal Meridian, you would enter the following numbers in the appropriate fields: 36 in the "Section No." field, 25 in the "Township No." field, 04 in the "Range No." field, and 3rd Principal Meridian in the "Meridian No." field. Choose North for the township direction and East for the Range direction. The records returned will show that there were six purchases from the General Land Office within this township.

The Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database may also be searched by name of purchaser and name of purchaser in a designated county.

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