Convert Homestead (homestead) to Square Perch (perch²) instantly.
About these units
Homestead (homestead)
A homestead is not a strictly fixed area unit but historically referred to land parcels granted under the U.S. Homestead Act of 1862, typically 160 acres, or 1/4 of a section. These homesteads were offered to settlers willing to cultivate and improve the land. The 160-acre parcel was chosen to be large enough to sustain a family farm in many regions, though this proved inadequate in drier western areas. While no longer an official area unit, "homestead" is deeply embedded in American cultural memory and historical land-use patterns. In legal and historical contexts, it often implicitly means a quarter-section, preserving its measurement-like nature.
Square Perch (perch²)
A square perch is equivalent to a square rod, as "perch" was another historical name for a rod, used in various medieval and regional English measurement systems. Perches commonly appeared in church records, tithing assessments, and agricultural inventories. Because the perch was both a length and an area unit, it played dual roles in land taxation and construction. These overlapping terminologies—rod, pole, perch—reflect the organic evolution of measurement in medieval Europe, long before unified systems took hold.