* 
 
 :NSTBUCTIONS 
 
 RELATIVE TO 
 
 TOWN-SITES ON PUBLIC LANDS. 
 
 (ISTot applicalile to 
 
 1 
 
 GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 
 JULY 9. 1886. 
 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVI.KsMK.VT PUINTINC} OFFICE. 
 
 181)0.
 
 CIRCULAR 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 RELATIVE TO 
 
 TOWN-SITES ON PUBLIC LANDS. 
 
 (Not applicable to -A.lask:a.) 
 
 GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 
 
 JULY 9, 1886. 
 
 REPKINT. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
 1899.
 
 c 
 
 INTERIOR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 
 Washington, D. C., June 22, 1899. 
 This circular is reissued for the informatiou and benefit of those 
 
 concerned. 
 
 BINGER HERMANN, 
 
 Commissioner. 
 Approved : 
 
 THOS. RYAN, 
 
 Acting Secretary.
 
 CIRCULAR 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 MANNER OF ACQUIRING TITLE TO TOWN-SITES ON PUB- 
 LIC LANDS. 
 
 t DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
 
 GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 
 Washington, D. <?., July 9, 1886. 
 REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS, 
 
 United States Land Offices : 
 
 GENTLEMEN : There are three methods by which title may be ac- 
 quired to public lands for town-site purposes : one provided for in sec- 
 tions 2380 and 2381 ; another in sections 2382, 2383, 2384, 2385, and 
 2386 ; and the third in sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, United States Be- 
 vised Statutes. 
 
 I. 
 
 Section 2380 authorizes the President to reserve public lands for 
 town-site purposes on the shores of harbors, at the junction of rivers, 
 important portages, or any natural or prospective centers of population. 
 Section 2381 provides for the survey of such reservation into urban or 
 suburban lots, the appraisement of the same, and the sale thereof at 
 public outcry; the lots remaining unsold are thereafter to be disposed 
 of at public sale or private entry, at not less than the appraised value 
 thereof. 
 
 II. 
 
 Sections 2382, 2383, 2384, 2385, and 2386, Revised Statutes (act 3d 
 March, 1863, 12 Stat., 754; act 3d March, 1865, 13 Stat., 530), limit the 
 extent of the area of the city or town which may be entered under said 
 acts to 640 acres, to be laid off in lots, which, after filing in this office 
 the statement, transcripts, and testimony required by section 2383, are 
 to be offered at public sale to the highest bidder at a minimum of $10 
 for each lot. 
 
 An actual settler upon any one lot may pre-empt that lot, and any 
 additional lot on which he may have substantial improvements, at said 
 minimum at any time before the day of sale. Such person must furnish 
 pre-emption proof showing residence and improvement upon the origi- 
 nal lot and improvement upon additional lot, after the usual notice of 
 intention by publication. 
 
 Lots not disposed of at time of public sale are thereafter subject 
 to private entry at such minimum or at such reasonable price as the 
 
 3
 
 Secretary of the Interior may order from time to time, after at least 
 three months' notice, as the municipal property may increase or de- 
 crease in value. 
 The preliminaries required by this method are : 
 
 1. Parties having founded or who desire to found a city or town on the 
 public lands, under the provisions of sections 2382, 2383, 2384, 2385, and 
 2886, must file with the recorder of the county in which the land is 
 situate a plat thereof, describing the exterior boundaries of the land 
 according to the lines of public surveys, where such surveys have been 
 made. 
 
 2. Such plat must state the name of the city or town, exhibit the 
 streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys, and specify the size of the same, 
 with measurements and area of each municipal subdivision, the lots 
 in which shall not exceed 4,200 square feet, with a statement of the 
 extent and general character of the improvements. 
 
 3. The plat and statement must be verified by the oath of the party 
 acting for and in behalf of the occupants and inhabitants of the town 
 or city. (~ 
 
 4. Within one month after filing the plat with the recorder of the 
 county a verified copy of said plat and statement must be sent to the 
 General Land Office, accompanied by the testimony of two witnesses 
 that such town or city has been established in good faith. 
 
 5. Where the city or town is within the limits of an organized land 
 district a similar map and statement must be filed with the register and 
 receiver. The exterior boundary lines of the town, if upon the land over 
 which Government surveys have not been extended, may, when such 
 surveys are so extended, be adjusted according to those lines, where it 
 can be done without impairing vested rights. 
 
 6. In case the parties interested shall fail or refuse, within twelve 
 months after founding a city or town, to file in the General Land Office 
 a transcript map, with the statement and testimony called for by sec- 
 tion 2382, the Secretary of the Interior may cause a survey and plat to 
 be made of said city or town, and thereafter the lots will be sold at an 
 increase of 50 per cent, on the minimum price of $10 per lot. 
 
 7. When lots vary in size from the limitation fixed in section 2382 
 (4,200 square feet), and the lots, buildings, and improvements cover 
 an area greater than 640 acres, such variance as to size of lots or excess 
 in area will prove no bar to entry, but the price of the lots may be 
 increased to such reasonable amount as the Secretary may by rule ( 
 establish. 
 
 8. Title to be acquired to town lots embracing mineral entries is sub- 
 ject to recognized possession and necessary use for mining purposes, as 
 provided in section 2386. 
 
 III. 
 
 Lands actually settled upon and occupied as a town-site, and there- 
 fore not subject to entry under the agricultural pre-emption laws, may 
 be entered as a town-site, in accordance with the provisions of sections 
 2387, 2388, and 2389, United States Revised Statutes. (Act March 2, 
 1867, 14 Stat, 541 ; act March 3, 1877, 19 Stat., 392.) 
 
 1. If the town is incorporated, the entry may be made by the cor- 
 porate authorities thereof through the mayor or other principal officer 
 duly authorized so to do. 
 
 2. If the town is not incorporated, the entry may be made by the 
 judge of the county court for the county in which said town is situated.
 
 3. In either case the entry must be made in trust for the use and bene- 
 fit of the occupants thereof, according to their respective interests. 
 
 4. The execution of such trust as to the disposal of lots and the pro- 
 ceeds of sales is to be conducted under regulations prescribed by state 
 or territorial laws. Acts of trustees not in accordance with such regu- 
 lations are void. 
 
 5. Private individuals or organizations are not authorized to enter 
 town-sites under this act, nor can entries under this act be made of 
 prospective town-sites. The town must be actually established, and 
 the entry must be for the benefit of the actual inhabitants and occu- 
 pants thereof. 
 
 6. The officer authorized to enter a town-site may make entry at once, 
 or he may initiate an entry by filing a declaratory statement of the pur- 
 pose of the inhabitants to make a town-site entry of the land described. 
 
 7. The entry or declaratory statement shall include only such land as 
 is actually occupied by the town, and the title to which is in the United 
 States, and, if upon surveyed lands, its exterior limits must conform to 
 
 I the legal subdivisions of the public lands. 
 
 8. The amount of land that may be entered under this act is propor- 
 tionate to the number of inhabitants. One hundred and less than two 
 hundred inhabitants may enter not to exceed 320 acres ; two hundred 
 and less than one thousand inhabitants may enter not to exceed 640 
 acres ; and where the inhabitants number one thousand and over an 
 amount not to exceed 1,280 acres may be entered ; and for each addi- 
 tional one thousand inhabitants, not to exceed five thousand in all, a 
 further amount of 320 acres may be allowed. 
 
 9. When the number of inhabitants of a town is less than one hun- 
 dred the town-site shall be restricted to the land actually occupied for 
 town purposes, by legal subdivisions. 
 
 10. Where an entry is made of less than the maximum quantity of 
 land allowed for town-site purposes, additional entries may be made of 
 contiguous tracts occupied for town purposes, which, when added to 
 the previous entry or entries, will not exceed 2,560 acres ; but no addi- 
 tional entry can be allowed which will make the total area exceed the 
 area to which the town may be entitled by virtue of its population at 
 date of additional entry. 
 
 11. The land must be paid for at the Government price per acre, and . 
 proof must be furnished relating 
 
 1st, To municipal occupation of the land ; 
 2d, Number of inhabitants ; 
 3d, Extent and value of town improvements , 
 4th, Date when land was first used for town-site purposes ; 
 5th, Official character and authority of officer making entry ; and 
 6th, If an incorporated town, proof of incorporation, which should 
 be a certified copy of the act of incorporation. 
 
 12. Thirty days' publication of notice of intention to make proof must 
 be made and proof of publication furnished. 
 
 13. Title cannot be acquired under this act to mines of gold, silver, 
 cinnabar, or copper, nor to any valid mining claim or possession. A 
 non-mineral affidavit is required in all states and territories except 
 Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, and 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 14. A greater quantity of land than 2,560 acres is not excluded from 
 pre-emption or homestead entry because of town-site reservations un- 
 less the excess in area is actually settled upon, inhabited, improved, 
 and used for business and municipal purposes.
 
 15. If the corporate limits of a town are iii excess of the maximum 
 
 area authorized to be entered as a town- site, the proper quantity may 
 
 be set off, as provided in section 3 of the act of March 3, 1877, and the 
 
 residue be open to disposal under the homestead and pre-emption laws. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 WM. A. J. SPARKS, 
 
 Commissioner. 
 Approved : 
 
 L. Q. C. LAMAR, 
 
 Secretary. 
 NOVEMBER 5, 1886. 
 
 LAWS RELATING TO TOWN-SITES. 
 
 RESERVATION AND SALE OF TOWN-SITES ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. ^ 
 
 SECTION 2380. The President is authorized to reserve from the public 
 
 Town.ites to be reserved, lands, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, town-sites 
 
 3 March, 1863, c. 8o,8.i,v'. on the shores of harbors, at the junction of rivers, 
 
 12, p. 754. important portages, or any natural or prospective 
 
 centers of population. 
 
 SEC. 2381. When, in the opinion of the President, the public interests 
 require it, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of 
 r " the Interior to cause any of such reservations, or 
 1863> ' 8 ' "' 2> P ar * thereof, to be surveyed into urban or subur- 
 ban lots of suitable size, and to fix by appraisement 
 of disinterested persons their cash value, and to offer the same for sale 
 at public outcry to the highest bidder, and thence afterward to be held 
 subject to sale at private entry according to such regulations as the 
 Secretary of the Interior may prescribe ; but no lot shall be disposed 
 of at public sale or private entry for less than the appraised value 
 thereof; and all such sales shall be conducted by the register and re- 
 ceiver of the land office in the district in which the reservation may be 
 situated, in accordance with the instructions of the Commissioner of 
 the General Land Office. 
 SEC. 2382. In any case in which parties have already founded, or / 
 
 may hereafter desire to found, a city or town on the v_- ' 
 p public lands, it may be lawful for them to cause to 
 
 v 1 i3 Jnly 34^ 64 ' ' 2 5 ' 8 ' 2> ^ e ^ e( ^ W ^k tke recorder for the county in which 
 the same is situated a plat thereof, for not exceed- 
 ing six hundred and forty acres, describing its exterior boundaries ac- 
 cording to the lines of the public surveys, where such surveys have 
 been executed ; also giving the name of such city or town, and exhibit- 
 ing the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys, the size of the same, with 
 measurements and area of each municipal subdivision, the lots in which 
 shall each not exceed four thousand two hundred square feet, with a state- 
 ment of the extent and general character of the improvements ; such map 
 and statement to be verified under oath by the party acting for and in be- 
 half of the persons proposing to establish such city or town j and within 
 one mouth after such filing there shall be transmitted to the General 
 Land Office a verified transcript of such map and statement, accompa- 
 nied by the testimony of two witnesses that such city or town has been 
 established in good faith, and when the premises are within the limits of 
 an organized land district, a similar map and statement shall be filed with
 
 tLe register and receiver, and at any time after the filing of such map, 
 statement, and testimony in the General Land Office it may be lawful 
 for the President to cause the lots embraced within the limits of such 
 city or town to be ottered at public sale to the highest bidder, subject 
 to a minimum of ten dollars for each lot ; and such lots as may not be 
 disposed of at public sale shall thereafter be liable to private entry at 
 such minimum, or at such reasonable increase or diminution thereafter 
 as the Secretary of the Interior may order from time to time, after at 
 least three months' notice, in view of the increase ordecrease in the value 
 of the municipal property. But any actual settler upon any lot, as 
 above provided, and upon any additional lot in which he may have 
 substantial improvements, shall be entitled to prove up and purchase 
 the same as a pre-emption, at such minimum, at any time before the 
 day fixed for the public sale. 
 
 SEC. 2383. When such cities or towns are established upon unsur- 
 veyed lands, it maybe lawful, after the extension ^ e ^^ 6St&b}ish6A 
 ^thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the extension upon unsnrveyed lands, 
 limits of the premises according to those lines, gggf 00 UmitSl how * d< 
 where it can be done without interference with rights i July, 1864, c. 205, s. 3, 
 which maybe vested by sale; and patents for all V - 13 'P- 344 - 
 lots so disposed of at public or private sale shall issue as in ordinary 
 cases. 
 
 SEC. 2384. If within twelve months from the establishment of a town 
 or city on the public domain the parties interested 
 refuse or fail to file in the General Land Office a of T^n 
 transcript map, with the statement and testimony twelve 
 called for by the provisions of section twenty-three inferi<. 
 hundred and eighty-two, it may be lawful for the V 1 13 J ^ 4 1864 - - 205 ' 8 ' 4 ' 
 Secretary of the Interior to cause a survey and plat 
 to be made of such city or town, and thereafter the lots in the same 
 shall be disposed of as required by such provisions, with this exception, 
 that they shall each be at an increase of fifty per centum on the min- 
 imum of ten dollars per lot. 
 
 SEC. 2385. In the case of any city or town, in which the lots may be 
 variant as to size from the limitation fixed in section 
 twenty-three hundred and eighty-two, and in which to ^ at 8 ^ ry Lm t9 ge^ 
 the lots and buildings, as municipal improvements, erai rale. 
 I cover an area greater than six hundred and forty ^s^S. 1865 ' ' 10?> "" 2 ' 
 acres, such variance as to size of lots or excess in 
 area shall prove no bar to such city or town claim under the provisions 
 of that section; but the minimum price of each lot in such city or town, 
 which may contain a greater number of square feet than the maximum 
 named in that section, shall be increased to such reasonable amount as 
 the Secretary of the Interior may by rule establish. 
 
 SEC. 2386. Where mineral veins are possessed, which possession is 
 recognized by local authority, and to the extent so T(fle to lotg t to 
 possessed and recognized,the title to town-lots to mineral rights. 
 be acquired shall be subject to such recognized pos- v S 1 j t 5y . 1885t ' 107 ' "' 2> 
 session and the necessary use thereof; but nothing 
 contained in this section shall be so construed as to recognize any color 
 of title in possessors for mining purposes as against the United States. 
 
 SEC. 2387. Whenever any portion of the public lands have been or 
 may be settled upon and occupied as a .town-site, town authoritie(| 
 
 not subject to entry under the agricultural pre- ^ trust for occupants. 
 eruption laws, it is lawful, in case such town be in- 2 ^ arch ' 1867 - - 1T7 ' v - 14 - 
 corporated, for the corporate authorities thereof, p 
 and, if not incorporated, for the judge of the county court for the county
 
 in which such town is situated, to enter at the proper land office, and 
 at the minimum price, the land so settled and occupied in trust for the 
 several use and benefit of the occupants thereof, according to their re- 
 spective interests ; the execution of which trust, as to the disposal of 
 lots in such town, and the proceeds of the sales thereof, to be conducted 
 nnder such regulations as may be prescribed by the legislative author- 
 ity of the state or territory in which the same may be situated. 
 SEC. 2388. The entry of the land provided for in the preceding sec- 
 tion shall be made, or a declaratory statement of 
 iwSSe 1 ! 1 * the purpose of the inhabitants to enter it as a town- 
 , 1867. I 1 ". v - 1*. site shall be filed with the register of the proper 
 land office, prior to the commencement of the pub- 
 lic sale of the body of land in which it is included, and the entry or 
 declaratory statement shall include only such land as is actually occu- 
 pied by the town and the title to which is in the United States; but in 
 any territory in which a land office may not have been established, such 
 declaratory statements may be filed with the surveyor-general of the 
 surveying district in which the lands are situated, who shall transmi^ 
 the same to the General Land Office. 
 
 2389. If upon surveyed lands, the entry shall in its exterior 
 limit be made in conformity to the legal subdivis- 
 Ei2te. to ions of the public lands authorized by law; and 
 u 2 ^] roh ' 1867 ' e ' 177> v ' wnere tne inhabitants are in number one hundred, 
 and less than two hundred, shall embrace not ex- 
 ceeding three hundred and twenty acres ; and in cases where the inhabi- 
 tants of such town are more than two hundred, and less than one thous- 
 and, shall embrace not exceeding six hundred and forty acres ; and 
 where the number of inhabitants is one thousand and over one thousand, 
 shall embrace not exceeding twelve hundred and eighty acres ; but for 
 each additional one thousand inhabitants, not exceeding five thousand 
 in all, a further grant of three hundred and twenty acres shall be al- 
 lowed. 
 
 ****** * 
 
 SEC. 2391. Any act of the trustees not made in conformity to the 
 Certain acts of trustees to regulations alluded to in section twenty-three huu- 
 be void. dred and eighty-seven shall be void. 
 
 2 March, 187, c. 177, v. 14, 
 p. Ml. 
 
 SEC. 2392. No title shall be acquired, under the foregoing provisions I 
 NO title acquired to gold of this chapter, to any mine of gold, silver, cinna- 
 mines, &c., or to mining bar, or copper, or to any valid mining-claim or 
 "'S&rS' 1867,0. 177,0.68, possession held under existing laws. 
 
 v. 15, p. 67. 
 
 SEC. 2393. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to military 
 
 Mil- th r rva- or otner reservations heretofore made by the United 
 
 tion8, l &cT *" States, nor to reservations for light-houses, custom- 
 
 search, 1867, c. 177, v. M, k ou8eS) mints, or such other public purposes as the 
 
 interests of the United States may require, whether 
 
 held under reservations through the Land Office by title derived from 
 
 the Crown of Spain, or otherwise. 
 
 SEC. 2394. The inhabitants of any town located on the public lands 
 may avail themselves, if the town authorities choose 
 public land? right^of, to to do so, of the provisions of sections twenty-three 
 * D 8 te june 1868 c 53 v is hundred and eighty-seven, twenty-three hundred 
 p . 67. ' and eighty-eight, and twenty -three hundred and 
 
 eighty-nine; and, in addition to the minimum price of the lands embrac-
 
 <* 
 
 ng any town-site so entered, there shall be paid by the parties availing 
 themselves of such provisions all costs of surveying and platting any 
 such town site, and expenses incident thereto incurred by the United 
 States, before any patent issues therefor; but nothing contained in the 
 sections herein cited shall prevent the issuance of patents to persons 
 who have made or may hereafter make entries, and elect to proceed 
 under other laws relative to town-sites in this chapter set forth. 
 
 AN ACT respecting the limits of reservations for town-sites upon the public domain. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That the existence or incorpo- 
 ration of any town upon the public lands of the United States shall 
 not be held to exclude from pre-emption or homestead entry a greater 
 quantity than twenty-five hundred and sixty acres of land, or the max- 
 imum area which may be entered as a town-site under existing laws, 
 
 nless the entire tract claimed or incorporated as such town- site shall, 
 including and in excess of the area above specified, be actually settled 
 upon, inhabited, improved, and used for business and municipal pur- 
 poses. 
 
 SEC. 2. That where entries have been heretofore allowed upon lands 
 afterward ascertained to have been embraced in the corporate limits 
 of any town, but which entries are or shall be shown, to the satisfaction 
 of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to include only vacant 
 unoccupied lands of the United States, not settled upon or used for 
 municipal purposes, nor devoted to any public use of such town, said 
 entries, if regular in all respects, are hereby confirmed, and may be 
 carried into patent : Provided, That this confirmation shall not operate 
 to restrict the entry of any town-site to a smaller area than the max- 
 imum quantity of land which, by reason of present population, it may 
 be entitled to enter under section twenty -three hundred and eighty- 
 nine of the Revised Statutes. 
 
 SEO. 3. That whenever the corporate limits of any town upon the 
 public domain are shown or alleged to include lands in excess of the 
 maximum area specified in section one of this act, the Commissioner 
 of the General Land Office may require the authorities of such town, 
 
 I and it shall be lawful for them, to elect what portion of said lands, in 
 compact form and embracing the actual site of the municipal occupa- 
 tion and improvement, shall be withheld from pre-emption and home- 
 stead entry ; and thereafter the residue of such lands shall be open to 
 disposal under the homestead and pre-emption laws. And upon de- 
 fault of said town authorities to make such selection within sixty days 
 after notification by the Commissioner, he may direct testimony re- 
 specting the actual location and extent of said improvements to be 
 taken by the register and receiver of the district in which such town 
 may be situated ; and upon receipt of the same he may determine and 
 set off the proper site, according to section one of this act, and declare 
 the remaining lands open'to settlement and entry under the homestead 
 and pre-emption laws; and it shall be the duty of the secretary of each 
 of the territories of the United States to furnish the surveyor-general 
 of the territory, for the use of the United States, a copy duly certified 
 of every act of the legislature of the territory incorporating any city 
 or town, the same to be forwarded by such secretary to the surveyor- 
 general within one month from date of its approval.
 
 10 
 
 SEC. 4. It shall be lawful for auy town which has made, or may here- 
 after make, entry of less than the maximum quantity of land named in 
 section twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised Statutes 
 to make such additional entry, or entries, of contiguous tracts, which 
 may be occupied for town purposes, as when added to the entry or en- 
 tries theretofore made will not exceed twenty-five hundred and sixty 
 acres: Provided, That silch additional entry shall not together with all 
 prior entries be in excess of the area to which the town may be en- 
 titled at date of the additional entry by virtue of its population, as pre- 
 scribed in said section twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine. 
 
 Approved March 3, 1877. 
 
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