Convert Township (township) to Square Perch (perch²) instantly.
About these units
Township (township)
A township, as used in the U.S. Public Land Survey System (PLSS), is an area equal to 36 square miles, arranged as a 6-mile × 6-mile square. It is a cornerstone unit of American land division, originating during the late 18th-century settlement of the American frontier. Townships standardized how land was surveyed and sold, allowing the federal government to systematically divide territory for settlement, homesteading, and revenue generation. They were subdivided into 36 sections, each one square mile in area. This grid-based system profoundly shaped American geography. Roads, property lines, agricultural fields, and county boundaries in much of the Midwest and West follow township geometry. Even today, PLSS townships remain legally relevant in land deeds, zoning regulations, and cadastral surveys.
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.