You’ve just had some good news. A relative has gifted you with 100 acres of land. That sounds huge, but you aren’t sure how big 100 acres is.
Let us enlighten you. We’ll give you an idea of how gigantic the land is by offering comparative examples. Also, we provide some ideas as to what you can do with the 100 acres (to inspire the creative, entrepreneurial side of you).
Time to figure out how big that 100 acres of yours is.
Related Reading: How Big Of An Area Does A Patio Heater Heat? [IT DEPENDS]
Calculating the size of 100 acres
Typically an acre is calculated using the old system of chains and furlongs.
In agricultural language, a furlong is now long a strip of land is that oxen can plow without stopping to rest. That length of ground is 660 feet.
A chain is a unit of measurement used in Europe since around 1579 AD. One chain is 66 feet, so there are 10 chains in one furlong (66 x 10 = 660).
An acre is measured as one furlong multiplied by one chain:
660 feet x 66 feet = 43,560 square feet= 1 acre.
So, 100 acres is 4,356,000 square feet
That’s a lot of land. If you’re still having trouble visualizing the size of the area, let’s give you some examples.
How big are 100 acres? (Comparative examples)
Visual models are an incredible way to comprehend concepts and ideas. Fathoming the size of 100 acres can be hard for some people.
Here are examples to help you understand the vastness of 100 acres.
About half the size of a golf course
According to the US Golf Course Superintendent Association, an 18-hole course spans around 150 to 200 acres. That’s taking in the fairways, greens, water features, and buildings.
So your 100 acres is approximately ⅔ to ½ the size of a golf course.
Twice as big as Grand Central Station
Grand Central Station has always been an iconic landmark in New York. Though starting as a train station, over the past century it has transformed into a mini-city with accommodation, shops, and offices.
It sprawls over 48 acres. So you can fit two Grand Central Stations on your land and still have 4 acres spare.
You can park over 20,000 cars on it
Car parking lot sizes can vary. The average area is 320 square feet. However, there are parking lots that are 270 square feet.
Also, how many vehicles can fit into a 1-acre lot varies. The figures fall between 100 to 242 cars. The latter number is possible if you park the cars right beside each other.
So for your 100 acres, you can fit up to 24,200 vehicles on the land.
A fifth the size of Disneyland
Micheal Jackson has Neverland on his property, so why not have your own personal theme park?
Disneyland opened in 1955 and only offered a handful of areas to explore. But it has exploded into a behemoth wonderland that covers 500 acres. Your 100 acres is a fifth of that.
Slightly bigger than the Mall of America
The Mall of America, also nicknamed “Sprawl of America” is the largest shopping mall in North America. Each year, 42 million people pass through its doors to visit its stores (which number over 520 outlets).
The entire mall covers 96.4 acres. Your land is just that wee bit bigger.
It’s twice as big as Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is where the Queen of England resides, except usually for around the end of July to the end of September. Then she heads off for a summer holiday in Balmoral.
During this time the palace is open for visitors to come and explore. There are 775 rooms within the palace.
The entire estate covers an area of 39 acres. So your 100 acres is two and a half times as big.
You can fit over 1500 tennis courts
Do you love tennis? Then you can have as many courts as you want.
A standard tennis court is 2,808 square feet in size. You have 4,356,000 square feet with your 100 acres.
So, let’s do the maths:
4,356,000/2,808 = 1,551.3
That equates to 1,551 tennis courts. It’s your serve!
It’s almost three times bigger than the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the command center of the US military and defense. Within its walls, 30,000 people work to keep America safe.
Aside from offices the Pentagon also contains a small shopping mall and food court. All this is spread over about 34 acres.
That means you can squeeze nearly 3 Pentagons onto your property.
It’s half the size of SeaWorld
SeaWorld in San Diego hosts a range of aquariums, roller coasters, and themed areas. There are 16 attractions it offers to entertain and inform.
Over 4 million people visit the park each year.
The entire park covers 190 acres.
You can have over 180 Greek Parthenons
The Parthenon is the ancient temple for the goddess Athena. Athenians saw her as their patroness.
The temple covers an area of 23,028 square feet. If you adore Ancient Greece and Greek mythology you can construct 189 Parthenons on your 100 acres.
Central Park is eight times bigger
This is one of the world’s largest parks and sits in the heart of New York.
It’s a tranquil space where people can seek respite from the hustle and bustle of the city that never sleeps. 70% of the 42 million visitors to the park live in New York.
Central Park is 893 acres in size, but it’s not the biggest park in the city. That honor goes to Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx which is a mind-blowing 2,765 acres.
You can have up to 80,000 trees
Feel like helping end global warming? Plant a tree.
A one-acre plot can support anywhere between 300 to 800 trees. It is all dependent on the climate and the quality of the soil.
If we lean towards the most ideal conditions for growth, your 100 acres can be transformed into a forest of 80,000 trees (800 trees x 100 acres).
You can fit over 1,800 houses on your land
House sizes in America have gotten bigger since the 1970s. Now an average-sized home is around 2,300 square feet, an increase of 1,500 square feet.
Time to calculate: 4,356,000/2,300 = 1,894 houses
That’s a healthy village you can start.
It’s just over 5 times bigger than the White House
Construction of the White House started in 1792 and was completed in 1800. 12 years later the British army set fire to the building. It was repaired in 1820.
Since then there have been additions made to the White House and it has expanded in size to now measure 55,000 square feet (just over an acre). If you include the surrounding land the whole estate is 18 acres.
On your 100 acres, you can have five and a half White House replicas (building and land).
You could build 16 Colosseums
Back in the day this was the largest amphitheater ever built and it still holds that reputation. 50,000 people could come and watch the gladiators fight. People could be protected from the rain by the velarium, a wooden mast that Roman sailors would set up when it was needed.
Spread over 6 acres, you could easily fit 16 Colosseums on your 100 acres and still have 4 acres left over.
You could construct 900 basketball courts
If you love basketball, you could go completely overboard and build a bunch of courts to play on.
An NBA regulation court covers 4,700 square feet or 0.11 acres. That allows you to have 909 basketball courts on your 100 acres.
You can have 75 football fields
Don’t like basketball? How about football?
The standard dimensions of an American football field are 360 feet in length and 160 feet in width, which equals 57,600 square feet or 1.32 acres.
Divide your 100 acres by 1.32 and you get 75.75. That means you can have 75 football fields on your land.
How much does it cost to buy 100 acres?
If you aren’t lucky enough to be gifted 100 acres of land, maybe the size comparison examples have inspired you.
Yet, how much will buying that amount of land set you back? Like any property, it isn’t an easy question to answer.
Prices can fluctuate depending on supply and demand. Also, as they say in the real estate business, it’s all about “location, location, location.”
Additionally, the price is influenced by whether the land is developed or undeveloped.
Developed land contains roads, buildings, and other forms of construction. Undeveloped land is the opposite and could be a rural plot on which nothing stands.
With that in mind, you can work out a ballpark figure of how much you need to invest.
For an acre of undeveloped land, the prices range from $2,000 to $6,500 or more. That means a 100-acre lot will cost $200,000 to $650,000. Yet the prices can vary wildly from one state to another.
You can always check in with the US Bureau of Economic Analysis or the US Department of Agriculture to get current land valuations.
Ideas on how to use 100 acres
In a previous section, we offered examples to help you comprehend how big 100 acres is.
From that, you might have found inspiration to create something like a golf course, shopping mall, or maybe a hotel complex.
Let’s run you through some other ways you could utilize 100 acres.
Create a market garden
You could subdivide the land into smaller parcels and rent them out for keen gardeners.
That’s a win-win situation. You get an income, the growers get revenue from selling their crops, and hungry people have healthy vegetables and fruit to eat.
Turn it into your own farm
If you’re passionate about rural life and agriculture, you can start a farm.
With cows, you want to have at least one acre per head of cattle. That gives them a healthy environment in which to live and grow.
When it comes to crops, the amount you can harvest depends on what you’re growing.
Turn it into a small holiday resort
At times people want to get away and relax. Why not capitalize on such retreats by creating a small holiday resort?
Remember your land is two times the size of Buckingham Palace.
You can create lakes, have a hotel or separate lodgings, have an entertainment area, or mini amusement park. The sky is the limit.
Don’t forget you can fit a lot of cars and trees onto the property. So let your creativity flow and design an amazing resort.
Make a campground
This is along the same vein as a holiday resort, but more rugged. Plant trees and have log cabin accommodation and camping plots where visitors can set up their tents.
Make it a real outdoors environment with fishing areas such as ponds and lakes. You could create hiking trails through your wooded area.
You can base everything around a theme such as The Teddy Bear’s picnic, or Goldilocks and the Three Bears. For horror fans, turn it into a “haunted forest”.
Conclusion
100 acres is a lot of land.
To visualize the enormity of the space visit the White House and then times the land around that by five.
Otherwise, go and see the Mall of America which is just under 100 acres in size.
There is so much potential that 100 acres of land offers. The price of an acre varies depending on the location and if it is undeveloped land or not.
To get current land valuations you can contact the respective government agency. For example, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
How you develop the land is only limited by your imagination and creativity. The space is just begging for you to turn it into something amazing.
Have fun with your 100 acres.
