What are your favorite town line anomalies?
 

While heading north today on I-93 for the thousandth time I noticed a sign for the Meredith town line. In my mind it was always Sanbornton then New Hampton. So, I typed Meredith into Google Maps and sure enough there's a little triangle of land on the west side. While looking at the map I saw that one-third of Blackcat Island is in Meredith as is a part of the Center Harbor mainland. No biggie - just find it interesting.

What anomalies can be found in your town?

Old friend has the center harbor/moultonboro town line right through their kitchen

Ghost Town of Livermore, N.H.
 

In the geographic center of New Hampshire is the ghost town of Livermore, a former town unincorporated in 1951, incorporated in 1876 with 63.9 square miles land, 99.7% is part of the White Mountain National Forest. From 2010 to 2020 the population went from zero to two people.

I believe this private property ..... www.facebook.com/wildernesscabinsnh/ ....is at the intersection of the Bear Notch Rd and the Kangamagus Hgwy ...... check out the old cabins and the black bear at a bird feeder ..... open May thru October.

Now that's funny. So where do they say they live?

Reside
 

Sometime in my life a lawyer told me that the residence question in such a situation is answered by the location of the front door. I give up if the line bisects the front door.

I went there maybe five years ago with a hand-sketched map to find the old foundations. It was also a popular swimming spot with people using a smooth rock waterfall like a slip 'n slide.

Center Harbor has a few inches of Highway on I-93.
Between Exit 23 - New Hampton and Exit 24 - Ashland.

Watch closely... It's posted.

:laugh::laugh: And I wouldn't be surprised if that has happened.

Sometime about ten years ago in 2014 or so, the Walmart that is located in both Gilford and Laconia was remodeled, it was doubled in size, and the front entrance was moved across the town line from Gilford to Laconia. There is a rough granite post set into the ground, there in the parking lot, which is a boundary marker.

Moving the front entry from Gilford to Laconia means shoplifters get processed by the Laconia Police while they formerly were processed by the Gilford Police. It also means the Laconia Fire Dept is the primary response including their ambulance.

I have heard that too. I believe that is true. If you were building a house on a divided lot you might be able to design it so the the front door is in the town with the lowest tax rate.

I believe that when the Walmart in Laconia was expanded and took over the space next door the movement of the front door to it's current location changed the jurisdiction to Gilford for tax purposes as well as town services.

I think that's also why that Walmart - which has a pretty standard Walmart layout in every other way - has only one entrance. If it had 2 they would be in different towns.

-jim

I understand the Food Court at the Pheasant Lane Mall was placed in MA because the meals tax rate was lower than NH.

The Watkins Town Forest in Merrimack extends into Bedford and I understand Bedford sent tax bills out to somebody for that land and they got paid for some years.

Decades ago, when I was a Selectman, there was discussion about our official duty to meet Selectmen from adjoining towns to perambulate the town lines.

I have also heard that the room where you sleep is your domicile for voting purposes. Perhaps this varies from state to state?

The only part of the Pheasant Lane Mall that was in MA was one doorway at the old Sears, by the merchandise pick up. MA for years tried to get sales tax out of them stating the store was in MA, they never won. The Food court is all in NH.
The south parking lot is in MA so Tyngsboro gets called to all the fights from Buffalo Wild Wings, and soon the Casino I would imagine.

Also, just looked up on Google Maps (probably not 100% accurate) but looks like Walmart is in Laconia in the back 1/3 of the store. So if that is correct, having 2 front doors wouldn't matter.

Screen shot of the Gilford tax map. It's actually kinda cool.

You would pay property tax to each town based on value in each.

In NH, the official address on your license is the main means.
After that, the municipality uses several different formats that determine where you officially reside.

And how do you (or somebody) decide which town you live in if you're half n half?

Here's a picture of the town boundary:

When you get your license, or non-driver's photo ID... they use the residency documents that you provide to determine that.

For people that use a Mail Box address, they use the E911 address assigned to the property to place on the ID.

I have seen it get complex in a corner lot when the house had two driveway permits going to two different roads, but the municipalities usually work out what that will be.

My license shows legal and mailing addresses
 

My Real ID NHDL shows my POBOX mailing address on the front of my license and on the reverse shows my legal address (Street Address).

My late wife's DL showed the same thing, and I checked with my daughter's brand new license shows the same thing (Mail on one side, legal on the other).

Dave

Dont live near the Town Line...
 

...in 2007, we relo'd to southwest CT for work, (the job was in NY, but being native New Englanders, there was no way we would live in NY, so we were just over the line in CT, but I digress...). We were in Ridgefield, CT, but the next town over, Wilton, CT, was literally a few hundred feet away. On move-in day, we had SNET, (Southern New England Telephone), out to hook up our land line, (remember those?). The SNET guy asked, "do you want a "761" number or a "438" number"? We thought "761" sounded more interesting, so that's what we chose. Little did we know that that choice would cause chaos with police, fire, ambulance, etc. The SNET guy never explained that "761" was the exchange for the town of Wilton, while "438" was the exchange for the town of Ridgefield.

Fast forward a couple months...we had given our new number out to everyone...family, friends, doctors, dentists, employers, credit card companies, etc etc. I finally got around to going to the Ridgefield police to register our alarm and the police said, "we can't take that...that's a Wilton number. If your alarm goes off or you dial 911, the call is going to go to Wilton". I then went to the Wilton police and they said, "you can't register your alarm with us...you live in Ridgefield...ask SNET to route your emergency calls to them"

It took several more months to get the bureaucracy of SNET to get our number routed to Ridgefield first responders. What a mess...

There is one intersection point where Alton plus 4 other towns meet. And I have been there. Can you name the 4 other towns?

Alan

I remember reading a story a few years ago about a house on the Vermont/Canadian border where the country line ran right though his living room.

I recently lived in the Mirror Lake region of Tuftonboro. ZC 03853. Our mail was delivered by the Wolfeboro PO. Our electric service was from Wolfeboro electric. When we had UPS deliveries to our physical street address that went through the Dover dist. center we were notified of an incorrect address and often the package was lost. Some driving directions would pop up our street address in Wolfeboro as the recommended address which would really confuse visitors, Craigslist buyers, etc.

HAHA. The mail for Mirror Lake 109 and 109A both come out of Wolfeboro. The Wolfeboro Electric service ends just above Oak Hill Rd. (I think that's the name) and then becomes NHEC. Was your mailing address actually Wolfeboro? I know Middle Road people have Wolfeboro address. Tuftonboro Neck though is Mirror Lake 03853. All very odd.

Don't know if this accurate;
The intersection point where Alton meets four other towns is located at the intersection of Route 11 and Route 140 in Alton Bay. The four other towns that meet at this point are:

Laconia
Wolfeboro
Meredith
Center Harbor
This intersection is a popular spot for tourists and locals alike, as it offers stunning views of Lake Winnipesaukee.


https://www.mapquest.com/us/new-hamp...n-nh-282029588

https://webapps2.cgis-solutions.com/altonnh/

Yes, my mailing address was Wolfeboro and I lived at the top of Oak Hill (Jordan Way). I think I was the last house on Wolfeboro electric`s line.

Barnstead
Strafford
Farmington
New Durham

So much for Gemini AI.
Asked it:

Meaderboro and Cooke roads?

Bingo you are a winner!

Alan

Town line anomalies...
 

but, where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah all come together, you can put a hand or foot in each of the 4 states at the same time, but where Barnstead, Alton, Strafford, Farmington and New Durham all come together there aren't enough body limbs to go around!

Taked off your shoe and sock
 

Maybe take off your shoe and sock, and just put your foot down. :rolleye2:

Dave

That isn't what google shows, but makes more sense of what is being said.

depends on if you're male or female... :-)

"The Republic of Indian Stream was no laughing matter—its less than 300 residents were committed enough to draft a constitution, print their own stamps, establish a 41-man militia, and elect a local government."

Live Free or Die.

Center Harbor Post Office
 

It has been moved now but the Center Harbor Post Office used to be located just over the line in Moultonborough.

Right next to Robbins store.

This has nothing to do with town lines, but I grew up in a house that was #82 on our street. The next house on our side was #28. Whether the mailman was dyslexic or careless, we'll never know...but we got mail for house #28 ALL the time!

But the real funny part is that the family's name at house #28 was Wong. So (in those days before political correctness) I would hear my parents talking all the time about that damn mailman giving us the wong mail again!

...and how good you are at the game of Twister.

I'm pretty flexible for an old guy! [emoji6]

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“Political correctness” is voluntary. You just triumphed over it internally by repeating the very funny line from your parents. Anyone who wouldn’t laugh is the one who needs correction. Congrats!

Too bad your family name isn’t White. Wong mail at the White House!


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Can't get that vision out of my mind, thanks for that.:emb:

Anytime!

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What town are you in?
 

Question-
What town are you in if you are boating in the broads southwest of Sandy Island??


Answer- Alton!

could be Gilford, Alton or Tuftonboro depending on how far south or west you really were.

I worked at the old Sears.

Meredith/Moultonborough town line may not be where you think it is.
 

Google Maps incorrectly shows the towns of three islands.

When I started research on Bizer maps, I stopped at town assessors' offices. They are a wealth of information. I asked the Meredith assessor why there was no tax listing for Little Six Mile Island. The assessor showed me a 1909(?) state law. That law declared Little Six Mile Island and Ozone Island to be in Moultonborough even though Google Maps thinks those two islands are in Meredith. That same law declared Fivemile Island to be entirely within Meredith even though Google Maps puts half of that island in Moultonborough.

When I went to the Moultonborough assessors' offices, it seems that they knew nothing about Little Six Mile Island and Ozone Island. I was handing Moultonborough a few thousand in taxes for that year. So I went back to their offices three months later to see what they had done about taxing those two islands. Total apathy. They had done nothing and did not intend to do anything that year. The owners were going to get one more year without paying real estate taxes.

Can't Get There From Here
 

I don't know about an anomaly, but I always thought that the miles long town line between Gilford and Gilmanton was strange, that 'strangeness' being that there are no roads between the two towns along that town line.

It proves the old saw about "You can't get there from here." To get to one from the other you have to go through either Alton or Belmont to get to Gilmanton from Gilford and vice versa.