ALABAMA LAND RECORDS
The Alabama Secretary of State has scanned various land records that have been recorded with the Secretary of State's Lands and Trademarks division in the state of Alabama, and posted these maps online. Included are Land Patents, Land Surveyor's Field Notes, Land Surveyor's Plats, and Tract Books. Most of the maps were copied from microfilm records, so are low resolution images. (For higher quality images, see the BLM link below.)
Some of these searches require that you provide additional information, such as county, land district, township, range, section, deed book & page number, etc.
SEARCH ALABAMA LAND RECORDS ON SECRETARY OF STATE WEB SITE
How to navigate the menus from the Alabama Secretary of State's home page:
Click on Records > Records Searches > Land Records
Or go directly to the Land Records Search page.
Then choose how to search:
Name
Township, Range, and Section
Book
There are other interesting links on the page. The "Additional Information" section choices are not actually links; each "link" will immediately download a pdf document to your computer.
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT - GOVERNMENT LAND OFFICE (BLM GLO)
The BLM GLO provides online access to the original land grant records for those states using the Township/Range method of identifying property. The records can be searched in numerous ways, by inputting part or all of the search criteria, from surname, to Township Range and Section. They also have numerous survey plats and field notes available online. BLM has scanned the original records, so they are much better copies, higher resolution, and with original coloring. (The Alabama Secretary of State site copied microfilm records, so they are lower resolution black/ white images.)
SOME STATES ARE NOT AVAILABLE ON THE BLM SITE
The following states use the metes and bounds method of defining property lines (begin at the apple tree by the rock on the corner of John's orchard, for example), and ARE NOT included on the BLM site.
The BLM GLO site has NO land grant maps for Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine. Basically, the original 13 colonies and a few other states are not available on the BLM site.
SEARCH LAND RECORDS ON BLM GLO WEB SITE
On the BLM page, choose an option from the green bar across the top of the page.
Unfortunately, for documentation of sources purposes, It isn't always clear (on either site) what book and page number is being viewed.
