Free Acres
Free Acres is an unincorporated community located along the border of Berkeley Heights in Union County and Watchung in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Created in 1910 as a social experiment by Bolton Hall, an Irish-born New York entrepreneur, reformer and follower of Leo Tolstoy. Hall believed in economist Henry George's idea 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.
Free Acres
- Name
- Free Acres, New Jersey
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Overview
Overview
The acre wooded community of 85 households is located about west of New York City. Residents own their houses, but pay a lease for the land, which is owned collectively by the community. Acres contains a farmhouse and a spring-fed pool. Residents of Free Acres still 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 two municipalities. Among the early residents of Free Acres were author Thorne Smith and his wife Celia, and actor James Cagney and his wife Billie. It has been home to scientists who worked at the nearby Bell Labs Murray Hill.
Documentary record
Free Acres is a place documented in the authority records of the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names. The authority records of the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names record Free Acres as a neighbourhood.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Free Acres, New Jersey • Type — Unincorporated community • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — United States • Subdivision Type1 — State • Subdivision Name1 — New Jersey • Subdivision Type2 — County • Subdivision Name2 — Somerset and Union • Subdivision Type3 — Township • Subdivision Name3 — Berkeley Heights and Watchung • Elevation M — 134 • Elevation Ft — 440 • Postal Code Type — ZIP Code • Postal Code — 07922 • Custom Label Sec1 — GNIS feature ID • Custom Data Sec1 — 0876502 • Unit Pref — imperial communities
Documentary record
The authority records of the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names record Berkeley Heights as the administrative unit of Free Acres.
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Free Acres, New Jersey, revision 1373562019 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 27 September 2026.
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