In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a pair of new homeowners in Concord, Massachusetts installed a new locked gate across a dirt road on what they perceived to be their property. They had only bought the house a few weeks before the lockdown hit, and were reportedly getting frustrated with all the hikers going out for a breath of fresh air and trespassing on their new property.
The only problem was: it wasn't their property. In fact, non-exclusive use of the road dated back to before the founding of the United States, and it was even a beloved spot for that famed Concord-roaming naturalist, Henry David Thoreau, and the daughter of his buddy Ralphie Dubs.
The decision on the status of the northern end of Estabrook Road relies on history dating to at least 1763, when a body that no longer even exists – the Middlesex County Court of General Sessions of the Peace – first established the road. That history then continues through the 1800s, when Thoreau, naturally, helped survey the road, after which he and Ralph Waldo Emerson's daughter both put to writing descriptions of trips along the classic New England country lane.
To be fair, the property lines are certainly confusing. And there was an interesting albeit complex 1932 legal decision made by a governing body that no longer exists which further muddied the waters. But the new homeowners of the property adjacent to the dirt road demonstrated an impressive level of hubris in their commitment to blocking public access. A local land judge had originally told the new homeowners to remove the barricades just in July of 2020. But the homeowners have continued to appeal, costing the town nearly two million dollars over the last four years, according to the local Concord Bridge.
Of course, the homeowners very likely paid more than that to own the home in the first place. And when you have that kind of money, well, of course you think you're entitled to things.
Earlier this week, an appeals court once again affirmed that the land is public—though a lawyer for the homeowners insists that he will still seek yet-another appeal.
Concord homeowners lose bid to keep people off a path that has been a public way since before the Revolution [UniversalHub]
Previously:
• 7 years later, Sun Microsystems cofounder Vinod Khosla loses bid to privatize public beach
• Billionaire Beach Villain Vinod Khosla has a thought concerning Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Billionaire tech VC Vinod Khosla owns the very tides, sea, sands (or so he claims)
• Vinod Khosla, Beach Villain
