Question on Townships??? (Marion: for sale, purchase, school districts)

[dojilynn]

Can anyone explain the difference between a city/town and a township? Everyone keeps mentioning townships, but I don't see them on a map, so I'm having difficulty understanding where the places are that are being discussed.

Thanks!

[Future Trooper]

A city is a city, a township really only divides school districts,

[MikiJayne]

Each county is divided into townships. You can live outside of city or town limits, but in the township.

[dojilynn]

People keep mentioning Pike Township as being a place to "stay away from". Where exactly is Pike Township?

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by dojilynn

People keep mentioning Pike Township as being a place to "stay away from". Where exactly is Pike Township?

Pike Township is, roughly, north of 38th/Kessler and west of Township Line Road. Basically the northwest corner of Marion County. For the record, IMO it is not as bad as some of the folks on here say.

[hapaleeretired]

And different townships have different taxes. Some higher than others.

[dojilynn]

Originally Posted by hapaleeretired

And different townships have different taxes. Some higher than others.

That's good to know.

[DataEast]

The only thing not too good about Pike Township are the schools and the late 80s/early 90s vinyl villages......EVERYWHERE.

[TraderJack]

Originally Posted by dojilynn

Can anyone explain the difference between a city/town and a township?

Following the Louisana Purchase the government set about surveying the territories in prepartation for offering them for sale to the public. Some general guidelines were needed to distinguish one parcel from another, so different sets of 'meridians and baselines' were established.

The meridian was a north-south line, the baseline was east-west. They formed a huge X. From the N-S and E-W center point, areas of 6 miles by 6 miles were established as townships. Each 36 square mile township is divided up into 36 single-square-mile "sections." These sections are numbered sequentially from the northeast corner to the southeast corner.The 640 acre sections can be divided even further.

The townships weren't always exactly square. There were times that property was already owned ar natural boundaries were more convienient.

So basically the township was established to define land boundaries and has become an element of rural government, where cities and towns never developed.

They make ya learn this stuff when you become a Realtor...

[dojilynn]

Originally Posted by TraderJack

Following the Louisana Purchase the government set about surveying the territories in prepartation for offering them for sale to the public. Some general guidelines were needed to distinguish one parcel from another, so different sets of 'meridians and baselines' were established.

The meridian was a north-south line, the baseline was east-west. They formed a huge X. From the N-S and E-W center point, areas of 6 miles by 6 miles were established as townships. Each 36 square mile township is divided up into 36 single-square-mile "sections." These sections are numbered sequentially from the northeast corner to the southeast corner.The 640 acre sections can be divided even further.

The townships weren't always exactly square. There were times that property was already owned ar natural boundaries were more convienient.

So basically the township was established to define land boundaries and has become an element of rural government, where cities and towns never developed.

They make ya learn this stuff when you become a Realtor...

Wow! That's interesting...and way more information than I expected to get! Thanks for taking the time to explain it. I really appreciate it!