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Three Rivers Region

Started by dedgren, December 20, 2006, 07:57:49 PM

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KooriSim123

Great stuff mate this 3RR is a unbelievable read man i am enjoying it the more times i seem to read it  #?¿?¿?$  %confuso  :)
catch ya
Strong,Black and deadly
My brothers keeper

exodus101

Hey David,

This is looking really good.  I would say I'm surprised that I'm entertained by this but let's face it - I'm rather nerdy and detailed historical information like this interests me.  However, you make a very interesting presentation.  I had no idea the way in which townships were broken up in the farmland of the midwest.  As usual, I am thoroughly amazed at your attention to detail.  It's useful to know the size of an acre in SC4 terms.  I hope that you (and the others who work on 3RR) are able to convey this scale and distribution in a satisfying way. 

And lastly - US 231 runs through my old stomping grounds in Western Kentucky on the Ohio (Owensboro, KY).  It's nice to make connections - your old family farm is just a couple of hours away!  Fortunately, I won't hold the fact that it is in Indiana against you  ;) !!

Looking forward to the rest of the update!!

-Stephen

dedgren

#182
On Rural Land Division: Sections, Townships, Acres and Farms - Part Three

This is the third and final part of a three part post about the layout of the rural landscape in Three Rivers Region.  As I noted in Part One, I believe that the few minutes spent perusing this information will serve anyone who would like to collaborate in the development of 3RR quads.

It is hoped that you will have read Part One, which is here [linkie] and Part Two, which is here [linkie], before continuing on.  There's information in those previous posts that will help you in understanding what is presented here- at least that was my plan all along.

At the conclusion of Part Two, we saw that, in 1852, Three Rivers Region enacted a Homestead Law, which set in motion the division of the region's rural areas suitable for agricultural development into a one-mile square grid pattern bounded by roads on the section-lines, which created a landscape looking notionally like this.





The sections bounded by those roads were then homesteaded into four quarter-section 160 acre tracts one-half mile on a side.





The choicest farmlands in Three Rivers Region were all homesteaded by about 1880, and the last homestead claim was filed in the upper Cold River Valley in 1899 by one Phineas Frickenstadt, who was but 4'11"/1.5 m in his stocking feet and had 10 beautiful daughters, one of whom...

...but that's another story....

The 1852 Homestead Law was officially rescinded in 1902, having provided in just 50 years for the settlement and development for agricultural purposes of almost 640,000 acres/259,000 hectares of land.  Strict laws governing the conduct of corporate farming, along with a tax code that favors keeping farms in family hands, have kept agriculture in 3RR from going the way that it has in the United States and, to a lesser extent, Canada.  Today, the farming community of the region is thriving and vibrant and, except for an unfortunately high rate of first-cousin intermarriage, largely free of the ills and woes that afflict its counterparts to the north and south.

The median acreage of a Three Rivers Region farm is 160 acres.  The average farm size is a bit smaller, at 149 acres.  As land descends through generations of 3RR farmers, there has been some division of family farms through inheritance into smaller tracts with 40 acres being about the smallest tract passed down.  The Family Farm Preservation provisions of the tax code passed in 3RR in the 1950s with its favorable treatment of family farm trusts largely brought an end to the fragmentation of the region's farmscape.  Over half of the region's farms are now held in these trusts.

For those who looked carefully at the pic of northern Illinois and noticed that, while the one-mile square grid and quarter-section tract boundary subgrid dominated the layout of the land, there still appeared to be many further divisions in the form of different colors and textures visible from the air, let's take another look.



Here, our one-square mile section has been outlined in white.  The four quarter sections are numbered one through four and are divided by dashed lines.  Tract 1 and tract 4 appear to be further divided in half, as noted by additional dashed lines.

It is only possible to guess from an aerial photograph taken at an unknown moment in time how the patterns of tillage and growth on fields on it relate to specific land division.  It would appear, though, that each of tracts 3 and 4, and probably 1, have a farm residence located on it, as seen in the small circles.  There is also a structure in tract 2, though its distance from the road and absence of any driveway to it would hint at either an abandoned dwelling or an outbuilding, such as a barn.  Remember that this picture was taken at a point following about 50 or so years following the beginning of the decline of the family farm in the United States.  My guess is that tracts 1 and 4 are divided in half based on crop rotation practices, which frequently let some land lie fallow while other land is cultivated.  Or, there may be seasonal crops involved, such as the planting of winter wheat or clover, which is then plowed under as an emendation to the soil.  I would futher guess, though, that examination of the land rcords in this area would show that tracts 1 and 4, despite appearing to be divided into 80 acre subtracts, are still part of the same farm.  That guess holds true for the same reasons for what appear to be subtracts in the surrounding area.

We'll wrap up by noting that one mile/1.6 kilometers in 3RR will be represented by 101 gridsquares.  The math is as follows:

     16 meters=52.5 feet
     52.5 feet x 101 = 5,302.5 feet
     5,280 feet = one mile
     5,302.5 feet (as far as I'm concerned, anyway) also = one mile

Remember that this will be inclusive of boundary gridsquares and adjacent roads which, after all, are just on an easement.

Thanks for taking the time in bearing with me through this lengthy post.
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

Fred_Ginger

um, gosh, more than I ever wanted to know, ::)  it's just that you make it so damn darn interesting :thumbsup:
My name is Vicki
Fred and Ginger were my doggies
RIP my babies

thundercrack83

The whole land division discussion in terms of the farms has me wondering: How are you going to handle scale and land division when it comes to the urban setting (buildings, parks, etc.)? Or, did I just spoil a future tutorial? If so, I apologize.

Gaston

#185
David posted:
QuoteOur friend Gaston discovers the scrolling text 12-20-06
  :D       And did you think I might have forgotten it.      :D
I think not.  LOL
  Fantastic stuff in the past few posts David.    I am entranced by it.    My math skills suck.   How many grid squares would make up a mile. (linear)   I tried to do the math and failed miserably.   This is really comming along great.   The backround story is truely mesmerizing.    I wish I had a high speed connection so when you get ready to have colaborators, I could be one.    Looking forward to more very soon.

---Gaston

Thank you David for answering my grid square to mile conversion question.    This has been a very kool update indeed.    I always feel like I got my money's worth out of this journal.    But, you didn't pay anything for it.  Yes I know that but you didn't have to say anything about it.    But these people desrve to know that you are cheap.   These people don't care about how cheap I am.   And besides How'd you get over here anyway. I thought I left you over at that other site.   Why don't you go back over there and leave me alone.   Oh no!  I like it here.  Over here I can do this.        :thumbsup:  Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!   :thumbsup:[/color][/i][/size]
    Man   Sorry about that.    Thanks for posting more great stuff, David.    We really appreciate it.
白龍

They say that the memory is the second thing that goes....
...dang , I wish I could remember the first.
WooHoo made Councilman - 05 FEB 07 Yipee made Mayor - 13 MAR 07 Hip Hip Hooray made Governor - 04 AUG 07 Rock On made Senator - 15 MAR 09

Darmok

#186
OK Here I am!
I'll try to discipline myself and make my Tuesday mornings my "reserved time" for SC4 Devotion visits...
Will I be able to pull it out on a long term basis! Stay tuned to find out!!!  ;)
Allright, I'll go back to my last post, and bring myself up to date and then post again.
So in the meantime I can say that for what I've seen so far, you're still a stickler for details and stats! (With all due respect, of course!  ;) )
OK I'm off to read those pages now....

See you later!

-John

EDITED


I just read on page 7 and I quote: "It is locally contended that poutine, an incomprehensible mixture of fried potatoes, gravy and cheese curds, was invented in Pineshore in 1863 as a way of efficiently feeding hungry railroad crews" END OF QUOTE
I respectfully disagree!
Archeological digs in the Drummondville area, brought to light fossilized cheese curds as well as petrified fried potatoes, the gravy as long by been transformed into petroleum...
So I think that we should discuss on this so called invention...   ;)

later...

EDITED AGAIN

And here's further proof about the Poutine origin...

Hehehe....
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=112.last#last

If you have a closed mind, do the same with your mouth

bat


dedgren

#188
I've now put up the Table of Contents for the first ten pages of 3RR.  It, among other features, has hotlinks to and a brief description of each of my posts, notes that date the post was made, and lists the members who have commented on each page.  The linkie is in my sig, or you can go there by clicking here [linkie].

I've also completed my three part post about rural land division in 3RR.  It starts here [linkie].

Thanks, as always, for stopping by.


David
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

Darmok

**hearing noises of someone chewing on cheese curds...**
**gulping sound**

Ok, just finished reading the last update, lot's of info to absorb! Very informative though and the humor makes it more palatable, if not, it would have been dry as heck!
Waiting to see (and read) more about the background of 3RR, have you a date in mind at which you want to start the actual development?
Had a morning long reunion today, and they hit us with still more work.... At least the overtime will help me pay for my recent debauchery (no! no! not as in "den of iniquity") of expenses on guitar gear!  And on the bright side, we should be returning to a more regular workload by springtime! So we'll be able to enjoy the summer! Ahhhh....

In the meantime, I'm all ears (or more precisely eyes), and I'll try to learn as much as I can from your agricultural tutorials.

See you

P.S. Now about that poutine topic....
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=112.last#last

If you have a closed mind, do the same with your mouth

your_adress_here

@ Darmok: I tried to tell him, but I don't think he wants to listen!  ;) :P
Bookah!

threestooges

What an absolutly believable backstory (aside from the recently raised question of Poutine...which incidentally, I am amazed to see how much has been written/wiki'ed on the subject); I can only hope that the results of the collaboration are up to the standards set forth herein.

Gaston

OKAY WAIT ONE MINUTE

     Are you telling me that poutine is for real.     LOL     I can feel my arteries hardening as we speak.      My god is that a food or a Canadian Biological weapon.   LMAO        If you could convince anyone that it was good for them, you could use it to perform genecide.   I really thought this was something made up after too much Eskimo Ice Cream.link      That is some scary stuff.
    Hmmm, it actually sounds pretty tasty.    I wonder if it is on my diet.
ummmmmm...  I'm guessing NOT!   LMAO


---Gaston
白龍

They say that the memory is the second thing that goes....
...dang , I wish I could remember the first.
WooHoo made Councilman - 05 FEB 07 Yipee made Mayor - 13 MAR 07 Hip Hip Hooray made Governor - 04 AUG 07 Rock On made Senator - 15 MAR 09

mightygoose

err poutine wow, er 3RR even bigger wow the detail and effort you are going to is astounding you are doing the entire community a massive service...
NAM + CAM + RAM + SAM, that's how I roll....

Craiggles

David, I didn't read your three-part series because I don't really have time to, but I did look at the pictures, and I wanted to comment on one thing: The largest city tile is not 1 mile x 1 mile; if each square is 16m x 16m, and the large tile is 256 tiles x 256 tiles, then the largest city tile is roughly 2.55 miles x 2.55 miles. You might have explained a different system that you're using for yourself in that three-part series, but if you didn't, then the correct numbers are aforementioned if you want to use them. Nevermind, but I'm still looking forward to more!

dedgren

Heh, this looks like a 3RR party of some sort...



Let me know next time- I'll put up decorations.

...the 200th post, btw, is right around the corner...


David
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

your_adress_here

Darn... I'm late again for the party.  :(  :D
Bookah!

pvarcoe

Hey David, Very nice updates.
I actually find the math quite interesting and may try to adapt some of your methodology to TT, if you don't mind.

If I'm not mistaken, a large city tile is 4km x 4km, or 4000m x 4000m.
Given that mile roads are 1 mile apart or approx 1620m apart; that means there would only be about 2 or 3 mile roads running vertically and the same running horizontally in a large city tile. I wonder if that will have the appearence of being a little too spread out, although technically correct.

Not sure about it, just wondering if you have any thoughts on the possible sparseness of roads.

Phil

keithsed

Hey!

Where is my invitation?  :angrymore:  I brushed my teeth this morning and I even used deodorant, since it was Tuesday. 

Ok . . . Next time I'll comb my hair. ?=mad)=

Tee..Hee.. ;)

Love Ya David.

Keith


nedalezz

I've never seen such a technical CJ, and its a good thing! You definitely bring a new perspective to SimCity, you can say you bring it to life! Keep up the good work.