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A Brief Explanation of French Measurement

An arpent is a unit of length used by the French in the 18th – 20th centuries, 191.944 feet (approximately 58.504 meters).

An edict of Louis XV dated 12 October 1716 mentions that land in the Province of Louisiana will be granted in modules 2 to 4 arpents wide along the river by 40 to 60 arpents deep.

When the province was in Spanish hands, the Capitán-Generál authorized modules 6 to 8 arpents wide by 40 arpents deep (regulations issued 18 February 1770). In practice, the dimensions of the grants were often stated in lieue, and a number of different lieue were in use during this period. French and Spanish surveyors in Louisiana interpreted the lieue as 2500 toise de Paris, = 83 1/3 arpent de Paris instead of 84.

Following the Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. government sent surveyors to Louisiana who measured existing land grants, and, calculating backward, settled on a value of 191.994 feet exactly for the arpent.