A similar checkboard pattern can be noticed in many places where railroad tracks have been laid and railroad stations built. The main reasons for this were government grants with sides up to several miles in size along the railroad. Such grants were given as a subsidy and were an alternative to mileage grants. Unfortunately, such laws significantly infringed on Indigenous peoples’ rights and could even provoke conflicts; that pattern divided territories formerly owned by Native Americans into separate pieces, mixing them with foreigners’ lands. Later on, problems likewise arose with environmental management and access to certain areas of national forests. Furthermore, the possibility of regular access to public areas was lost in cases of them being surrounded by private lands.
However, at the time of the active construction of the railroad and westward settlement, the checkerboard principle was beneficial to the state and the railroad companies. Initially, the very idea of this type of subsidy was intended to replace the state’s unprofitable subsidiary system for railroad companies. Under the mileage system, the company was interested in working as fast as possible, at the expense of which the quality of the track suffered greatly.
When checkboard subdivision with the sides of the square up to a few miles began, work quality and the interest of the companies grew. It was caused by the increased cost of land plots assigned by the state for the territories adjacent to the railroad. The difference in price could be as much as double, and the concept was to pay off when settlers moving westward began repurchasing them. It provided the impetus for the expansion of the railroad and westward settlement.