The Linens:

Often termed as simply “the linens", they were given that name because they were drawn using a permanent drafting ink on a durable linen drafting material. Early linens were drawn with metal tipped quill pens, and later years of drafting had the benefit of using “rapidograph” pens.

Size & Scale:

• Most of the maps cover an area of one mile east-west, by one half mile north-south. Thus, they became the first "Half Section Maps" used in Hennepin County. A few of the linen maps are irregular, mapping all of a fractional or part of a section of land. All of the linens (1153 maps) were originally created at a scale of 1 inch = 200 feet.
  
• The Linen ½ Section maps now available online for viewing and download have been reduced from their original size to an approximate scale of 1 inch = 400 feet, when viewed or printed at 100% magnification. Please refer to the bar scale on each map for the most accurate representation of mapping scale.

Minneapolis Half Sections - Where are they?

• The Linens created and maintained by the Hennepin County Surveyor did not map within the Minneapolis City limits. Through the years, Minneapolis created and maintained their own mapping products in a variety of ways, from atlas books, to mylar drawings, and computerized mapping in later years.
  
• If you look for Historical Half Section Linens in Townships that cover parts of Minneapolis, you will notice that the list of available Linens does not show those sections within the City. You can find additional mapping resources for the City of Minneapolis listed to the RIGHT.

Past to Present Mapping Products:

• These "Linen Half-Section" maps were discontinued in 1986, when Hennepin County completed it’s "Parcel Level Database" using a mapping software program developed by Hennepin County.
  
• Modern, updated maps of this variety and many others are available from the Office of the Hennepin County Surveyor. For more information, see the link to Parcel & Residential Maps.