Free Acres
Encyclopedia
Free Acres is an unincorporated community located within Berkeley Heights and Watchung
, New Jersey
, United States
. Free Acres was created in 1910 as a social experiment by Bolton Hall
, an Irish-born New York entrepreneur, reformer and follower of Tolstoy
. Hall believed in the idea of economist Henry George
of single taxation, under which residents pay a land value tax
to the community based on the value of the land alone, and in turn, the community pays a lump sum to the municipality.
The 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) wooded community of 85 households is located about 33 miles (53.1 km) west of New York City
. Residents own their houses, but pay a lease for the land, which is owned collectively by the community. Free Acres also consists of a farmhouse and a spring-fed pool. To this day, residents of Free Acres pay tax to the Free Acres Association, which is now a more common version of the property tax
, based on the value of the land and any improvements. The Association maintains the community's streets and swimming pool, approves architectural changes to homes and pays a lump sum in taxes to the Berkeley Heights municipality.
Among the early residents of Free Acres were author Thorne Smith
and his wife Celia, and actor James Cagney
and his wife, Billie.
Watchung, New Jersey
Watchung is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,801.Watchung was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 23, 1826, from portions of North Plainfield Township based on the results...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Free Acres was created in 1910 as a social experiment by Bolton Hall
Bolton Hall (activist)
Bolton Hall was an American lawyer, author and activist who worked on behalf of the poor and was the originator of the back-to-the-land movement in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century.-Activism:...
, an Irish-born New York entrepreneur, reformer and follower of Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
. Hall believed in the idea of economist Henry George
Henry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
of single taxation, under which residents pay a land value tax
Land value tax
A land value tax is a levy on the unimproved value of land. It is an ad valorem tax on land that disregards the value of buildings, personal property and other improvements...
to the community based on the value of the land alone, and in turn, the community pays a lump sum to the municipality.
The 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) wooded community of 85 households is located about 33 miles (53.1 km) west of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Residents own their houses, but pay a lease for the land, which is owned collectively by the community. Free Acres also consists of a farmhouse and a spring-fed pool. To this day, residents of Free Acres pay tax to the Free Acres Association, which is now a more common version of the property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
, based on the value of the land and any improvements. The Association maintains the community's streets and swimming pool, approves architectural changes to homes and pays a lump sum in taxes to the Berkeley Heights municipality.
Among the early residents of Free Acres were author Thorne Smith
Thorne Smith
James Thorne Smith Jr. , was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction.He is best known today for the three Topper novels, comic fantasy fiction that sold millions of copies in the early 1930s...
and his wife Celia, and actor James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
and his wife, Billie.