If a person owns a piece of land, do they own it all the way down to the center of the earth?

In the United States, you own all the property to the center of the Earth, that is UNLESS you or a previous owner had sold the 'mineral rights' to the land. In that case, you only own what a plow will till. Whoever you sold the mineral rights can pull from under the ground on "your" land....oil, minerals, natural gas,..whatever. Never sell the mineral rights. Many people did this in the early days, not understanding what they were selling.

Just to expand on Isabel's remarks on mineral rights, ownership of the subsurface rights does not guarantee any financial benefit. There was considerable legal research done in the late 1970's and early 1980's and it was determined that land use and zoning supercede the sub-surface rights. In other words, if you can't get the property zoned to mine minerals or extract oil and gas, then the sub-surface rights are just about worthless.

realtor.sailor

yes you own it all the way to the center of the earth. The person on the other side of the world owns his property to the center, where the two of you meet.

No.

Just like you cannot prevent planes or satellites from using the (air) space over your property.