Township (United States)

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In the United States, there are two kinds of township in common use. A survey township is a unit of land measure defined by the Public Land Survey System, inaugurated with the Land Ordinance of 1785. A civil township is a widely-used unit of local government. The former are always numbered; the latter are usually given names. A state may have neither, only one, or both of these. Civil townships exist in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.