The Republican journal., 1907-05-09
A MAINE PARADISE.
Inhabitants of ''Hibbert's Gore' Pay No
Taxes.

Inhabitants OF "dlDDert'S Gore" Pay No
Taxes.
In remote section of the Pine Tree
State, about midway between the State
capital and the sea coast, a small COM
munity lives under municipal condi-
lions which probably have not parallel
in the country. The men neither vote
nor pay taxes, the parents pay tuition
for the children in the public schools of
the neighbOring towns, and the men
and boys keep the road in repair by
joint division of labor.
The place is officially known as "Hib-
bert's Gore" the name being corrupted
from Hubbard, the name of the family
owning the land many years ago. 1t is
in no town, being corner between the
towns of Somerville, Palermo and
Washington, and consequently in no
county, as Somerville is in Lincoln
county, Palermo in Waldo and Wash
ington in Knox.
As all that part of the State was
originally in Lincoln county, before
Waldo and Knox were incorporated,
deeds of property in the Gore have been
recorded at WiScasSet, the shire town
of that county claim Jurisdiction there,
| existence of this state of affairs is to be
found in an error made by the old-time
surveyors in running the line between
the plantations of Patrick-town, now
| Somerville, and Putnam, now Washing
| ton,
Two lines were run al different times,
| one making an angle toward the north
! east and the other toward the north
west, and the bounds describing the
new towns, following the two different
surveys, caused this section to be left
out and not included in either
| The Gore contains about 500 acres,
and is bounded on the north by the
town of Palermo, on the southeast by
Washington, and on the southwest by
Somerville. On the Somervile side Mt.
Patrick rises to hight of 1000 feet or
more, while opposite, in Palermo and
Washington, are lesser hills, a reason
ably fertile valley, through which the
highway is built, extending between.
In days past half-dozen families
/ numbering about so persons, lived on the
Gore, but the number of families is now
reduced to three, the total population
to II and the school population to four.
The families now living there are those
of Stewart Eaton, Israel Brand and
Jesse Emerson.
Aside from these three small farms
the land is owned by well-to-do farmers
in the neighboring towns, who cut
wood and hay and pasture their cattle
on the Gore. In 1906 the parents paid
the State paying an additional $3.50
from the State funds.
The road across the Gore is about
three miles in length, being part of
highway between Palermo and Wash
ington. 1t was built and has always
been maintained by the residents OF
the Gore and the nonresident property
owners, all working together. The
through travel on the Gore road is
limited, but few persons going there
unless they have business OH the Gore,
OF with some one living nearby in the
next town.
The peculiar conditions which sur
round the Gore, as municipality, have
led, IN the past, to some amusing i'll
cldents. Several years ago, 1T is SAID,
an outsider, learning Of it's isolation
from town or county control, took a
place there and opened in the liquor
business, his customers coming from
the surrounding country for miles
around. He even neglected to pay his
U. S. tax, and this was where he made
his first mistake.
The good people on the Gore did not
like his business in their midst, and be-
fore long deputy U. S. marshal came
along and gave him to understand that
he was still in the jurisdiction of the
United States. The sheriffs of the adj
joining counties also told him that they
should close up his business and make
a test case of it, and he decided to
leave.
A case is also reported of a nonresi-
dent real estate owner who, of course,
paid no taxes on his land there, decid-
ing to dodge part of his personal
property tax by moving his cattle,
horses, machinery, ETC., to the Gore
taxes on April /. The assessors of his
his.
They assessed his tax as usual, and
gave the bills to the collector, who
threatened to bring suit it the taxes
were not paid within the legal time.
Rather than risk d trial and the odium
of trying to dodge his tax, he paid:
Attempts have been made in the past
to set off the Gore to one or the other
of the adjoining towns, but they have
never materialized. The men who own
property on the Gore are satisfied with
things as they are, and they have
shown to all the ''land-grabbing" neigh
bors that the possibilities Of thesfuture
pauper bills, highway repairs, school
transportation and other obligations
which would accrue to the town annex
ing them would more than offset any
advantage the town would receive from
being able to tax the property.
The towns which have moved in the
matter have withdrawn, every time, be-
fore the matter came to a vote in the
egislature.-Boston Sunday Globe.
o7IA.
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