Ever since Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton announced that they would make their first appearance together post-primary season, TV cameras have been broadcasting images from Unity, N.H.. The rural town on the Vermont border is where Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each got 107 votes in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. It is also where Clinton and Obama will appear in public for the first time since Clinton ended her bid.
We’re all for the symbolism of this photo-opportunity moment for the presumptive nominee and Clinton. However, what we’re more interested in is … the land.
According to the Economic and Labor Market Bureau of New Hampshire, the territory was first chartered in 1753, when land grants were dispensed and disputed until a resolution was reached in 1764 and the town of Unity was incorporated.
Ah, we see: Dispute between two parties. Agreement! The tracts were divided into … “EQUAL SHARES for all those named in the grant!”
Equal shares? That’s where the Unity, N.H. metaphor breaks down. Still, we of land-loving leanings applaud the choice, not just for the symbolism, but because WHY NOT put Obama and Clinton in the middle of a rural township and call it the right move? The myth of America is that we are all urban hipsters when, in fact, a majority of Americans live in rural areas.
As for Unity: It is 37 square miles and its population is 1,715. It is, in other words, rural — with most residents perplexed but intrigued about being the spot of such national intrigue, thanks to tomorrow’s Obama-Clinton event. This is a place where logging and welding are the major activities, according to one message board item about how the formerly unified township experienced a hiccup when a developer from “down state” bought a 500-acre parcel to build a retirement community. It’s only rural until it’s a commodity, which most rural land in America is. They don’t make it any more.
Maybe the presumptive nominee Obama and Senator Clinton can stop off and pick up some organic food stuffs, which seem to be growing in abundance in and around Unity, according to the Valley Food & Farm site.
Or, perhaps the power pair of Democrats can do what we’d do if we were in Unity: Land shop!
Here’s a listing for 7 acres in Unity, NH, with a house and little ol’ structure: $225K.
Or this 15-acre lot for $135K, and all we’d have to do is ditch the mobile home!
Looks like some deals can be had, even if the cash-rich Obama doesn’t need a land bargain.
1 Comment
August 3, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Thanks for the post