Summary

This article represents the held image-only GLO survey plat for T39N R9W. The project provenance identifies the original plat series as approved circa 1849. The scan shows a federal survey township/range title, section geometry, water boundaries, survey annotations, and a survey table. It is a cartographic survey record, not a list of occupants or a parcel-ownership history.

Direct image observations

The primary sheet visibly labels Garden Island and Hog Island in Lake Michigan.

These observations are a first-pass reading of the scan, not an exhaustive transcription of every small label, bearing, acreage entry, or handwritten note. The PDF is cited directly so later work can verify each reading at native resolution.

The second page is a later Plat of Pismire Island, Section 7. Its title block gives an area surveyed of 2.42 acres, identifies Hal D. Craig and Noville E. Shearer, records special instructions dated 15 July 1942, and gives survey dates of 13–15 September 1942. The page bears a General Land Office acceptance dated 27 November 1943 at Denver and 7 December 1943 at Washington. This is a later supplemental survey, not evidence that the whole township plat was made in 1942.

Joinable survey and environmental records

The held PLSS section layer places this sheet in T39N R9W (MI190390N0090W0) and connects it to 10 section records. The circa-1800 land-cover reconstruction intersects that modern township geometry in 18 units. These are reproducible comparison joins: they make the scan searchable alongside section and environmental records, but they do not mean that every linked polygon or label appears on the image.

PLSS sections

Circa-1800 land-cover units

GNIS and map comparisons

The modern GNIS layer contributes 1 feature points and 1 name-record links within the same geometry. GNIS is a modern gazetteer comparison, not evidence that a current name was used on the circa- 1849 sheet. The 1855 Lake Survey chart is retained as an independent historical map comparison.

GNIS name records

GNIS name record: Hog Island

Neighboring held plats

The held collection includes 2 cardinally adjacent plat sheets for navigation across township and range boundaries.

What it can and cannot establish

The plat can establish how the federal survey represented the township and which labels or water features were put on that sheet. It can support comparison with the 1853 Farmer map, the 1855 Lake Survey chart, GNIS, and the machine-readable PLSS section records. It does not establish who lived on or owned a parcel; that requires patents, tract books, deeds, tax records, and other residence evidence.

Open questions

What exact survey and approval dates can be transcribed from the primary title block at native resolution?
Which small feature labels can be matched confidently to current GNIS or PLSS records?
Do the missing field notes or patents preserve people, trails, camps, or ownership information absent from this image?

Sources

Michigan Department of Natural Resources State Spatial Data Library, GLO survey plat 39n09w.
The held scan has SHA-256 82e2e4fafacb104b9dfcfa81214d90dd3295f6e87aa26193cba697ea3543609f. GLO survey plat, T39N R09W, Beaver archipelago (originals approved c. 1849, Lucius Lyon surveyor general; 'BIG BEAVER I.' / 'GARDEN ISLAND' labels). Image-only PDF; direct observations are listed in the article body.
federal · glo_plats · 39n09w
Project provenance sidecar for the held GLO plat.
Records retrieval time, checksum, public-domain status, and the project source note.
federal · glo_plats · 39n09w.provenance
Bureau of Land Management, National Public Land Survey System CadNSDI, retrieved 2026-07-28.
The plat is connected to 10 section records by matching township/range identifier MI190390N0090W0; this is a modern geometry join, not a transcription of every label on the scan.
federal · plss · plss_section
Michigan Department of Natural Resources / Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Land Cover Circa 1800, retrieved 2026-07-28.
18 reconstructed land-cover units intersect the modern PLSS geometry for T39N R9W; this is a comparative spatial index, not a claim that each unit is legible on the plat.
state · michigan · land_cover_circa_1800
U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System, Domestic Names and All Names, retrieved 2026-07-28.
1 GNIS feature points fall within the modern PLSS geometry used as the plat extent; linked name-record articles preserve the current gazetteer layer separately from the historical image.
federal · gnis · gnis_names

GLO survey plat: T39N R9W