Original Surveyors' Field Notes and Plats are the surveyors' written description of Iowa land as it looked when first surveyed in the 1830s to 1850s. Most of the these records are arranged by township and range number. A comprehensive index to these records is available at the State Archives.

Tracts Books and Patent Books which contain information about land granted from the federal government to the State of Iowa and which was subsequently sold by the state. A legal description of the land is needed to access these records.

Records of the U.S. Land Offices in Iowa, which were created in separate volumes for each land office site, are arranged by township, range and section number, record the original grantee. The land office records are not indexed and a legal description of the land is needed to identify the original grantee.

For the actual documents of original conveyances for Iowa lands dispersed by the federal government to private individuals contact U.S Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States Office or write:

U. S. Bureau of Land Management

Eastern States Office

7450 Boston Boulevard

Springfield, VA 22153-3121

703-440-1600