In 1806, land surveyors working for the U.S. Congress marked out the one square mile sections comprising what would become Vanderburgh County, Indiana. The County Surveyor must keep and maintain a corner record book showing original government section corners set for each of the Congressional sections. The Surveyor must check, locate, establish, and reference at least 5% of all original corners shown in the Corner Record Book each year. 

In 2001, the Vanderburgh County Surveyor initiated a program to locate each of the 992 Congressional section corners using highly accurate Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) equipment. By July 2004, the County Surveyor had located and referenced over 850 of the original corners, and recorded their exact horizontal and vertical locations by Indiana State Plane coordinates and sea level elevation. Work will continue until all points are discovered or relocated. 

The locations and other data relevant to the county’s section corners are available as interactive grid points overlaid on aerial photographs and topographic mapping on the County Surveyor's GIS Web Map. The data is maintained by the Special Deputy County Surveyor, Douglas J. McDonald, P.E., L.S. 

Below is a database which contains point data for all section corners which have been located, referenced, and shot with GPS by the Surveyor's Office. This information is then used by private surveyors in order to complete surveys of private property.  This data is also available in the spreadsheet below.

Vanderburgh County GPS Points Spreadsheet

Vanderburgh County Legal Survey Index