Wow, free 1.3 acre homesteads in Alaska!!
1 Comments Published by Brian W. Barringer on Friday, March 23, 2007 at 10:09 AM.
Anyone interested in moving to the frozen interior of beautiful Alaska? There is ta town in Alaska offering folks free homesteads as long as you build a home on the property in a years time. I heard about this in the news a few days too late to consider actually doing this but I thought this article might be interesting read..........Read the full article here at CNN.
From 21st century homesteading: Free land in Alaska by CNN
A town in Alaska's frozen interior that offered free land to anyone willing to put down roots had it all spoken for within hours Monday.
People dropped everything to fly or drive north, camping out in weather as cold as 25 below and dreaming of homes they would build amid the spruce and cottonwoods of the town of Anderson, population 300.
By Monday morning, 44 parties were waiting in line for a shot at the 26 large lots offered to the first people who applied and submitted $500 refundable deposits.
What a nice idea it would be to bring back the homesteading act. The Homestead Act was a United States Federal law that gave freehold title to 160 acres of undeveloped land. The person to whom title was granted had to be at least 21 years of age, and to have built on the section, and lived in for 5 years, a house that was at least 12 by 14 feet (3.6 x 4.3 m) in size. The Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862. Homesteading was ended by the federal government in 1976. The only exception to this new policy was in Alaska, for which the law allowed homesteading until 1986. This township of Anderson has brought the idea back to attract residents to its small town.
Break down:
• Community of 300 offering 26 1.3-acre lots for free
• Lots go to first people to apply and pay $500 deposit beginning 9 a.m. Monday
• Winners must build 1,000-square-foot house within two years
• Idea for land lottery came from school project
Check out the city of Anderson, Alaska here.
I fully agree about the need for smaller houses. We've got what's formally a 3-bedroom, 1800 sq.ft. unit. Fully 1/3 of the area is used by the "living room", which is not even a room really. I'm not happy with the floorplan at all. Also, who's going to clean all those floors?