I would like to know the name and general directions (ex. 30 mins east
of Luka)to the "at least 10 Kansas communities offering free land"
talked about in this article:

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/8176067.htm%3F1c

"Marquette is among at least 10 Kansas communities offering free land
to attract residents to boost school enrollment and fatten the tax
base. Most started in the past year or two so it's too soon to measure
long-term success."

If you can find more towns in other states that is a plus.  I've never
done this before, but I will try to pay $1 for every town offering
free land up to 20 towns ($20). (If I can)  I will start at $5 and
then tip whatever the results are.

Let me know if I need to be more specific. Thanks!!

Hello wdhayden,

The bottom of the following article lists eight communities, including
Marquette, that have free land offers:

"Kansas Town's Offer Of Free Land Getting Attention" (March 18, 2004)
TheKansasCityChannel.com
http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/houseandhome/2929949/detail.html

The relevant web pages are:

"Choose a lot in Atwood, Herndon, or McDonald to build a home, it could be free!"
Atwood, Kansas
http://www.atwoodkansas.com/free.htm

"Great Lot Give Away"
Minneapolis, Kansas
http://www.minneapolisks.org/city/Revitalization.asp

Ellsworth County Welcome Home Plan
http://home.classicnet.net/welcomehome/

The first of these links indicates that there is a ninth town,
Herndon, in addition to the eight in the article.

Marquette does not appear to have a web page on its offer.

I'm not sure where specifically you would want directions from.  An
easy way to get good directions from whereever you want to travel is:
search for the name of the town on Google; click your preferred map
site (Yahoo! Maps or Mapquest); and then expand (zoom out) the map to
see how far the town is from various places in Kansas.  For example:

'Searched the web for "marquette ks"'
Google
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=%22marquette+ks%22

I have not been able to find information about current free land in
other states.  Apparently, International Falls was the approximate
location of a free land offer more than ten years ago.  Another post
states that there is no longer such free land in North Dakota and
South Dakota.

Dave Schmitz, "Re: Homesteadng", online posting (1994-06-23)
<misc.rural> via Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=CrrELA.B5G%40stortek.com

Aaron Schuman, "Re: Backcountry Land", online posting (1993-04-22)
<rec.backcountry> via Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=hetsh1s%40zola.esd.sgi.com

Bettina, "Re: free land/almost free land/ $5/acre up to 160
acres........ Is this true????? Anyone tried????", online posting
(2002-12-17)
<alt.consumers.free-stuff> via Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=uvvctih1g95v58%40corp.supernews.com 

- justaskscott


Search terms used, in various combinations, on Google, Google News,
and Google Groups:

"free land"
homesteading
marquette
ks
kansas
"(785) 546-2205"
atwood
"(785) 626-3017"
mcdonald
"(785) 538-2222"
minneapolis
"(785) 392-2176"
ellsworth
kanopolis
holyrood
wilson
"(785) 472-4136"
"rawlins county"
"ellsworth county"
"steve piper"
"frank popper"
"international falls"

Thank you very much for your excellent research.  We were already
planning to move back to the Kansas/Nebraska area and this will be
something we will look into.  I like the back woods!!!  Thanks Again!!

For what it?s worth?.

Marquette, as you mentioned is obviously one of those Kansas
communities offering free land to boost the dwindling population.

I called the Kansas Center For Rural Initiatives Office to speak to
Carol Gould who is mentioned in several of the articles I read on the
subject. She wasn?t there but the receptionist said her phone had been
ringing off the hook about this all day. She went on to say the Ms.
Gould did not know what the ten communities were and that the AP
reporter who wrote the article is the one responsible for saying that.

I called Marquette (KS) City Hall at 785.546.2205 and got no answer.
So I called the Marquette Farmer?s State bank (785.546.2292) and
inquired there. The receptionist told me she didn?t know of any
communities other than Marquette but she thought she recalled hearing
that the incentive was being offered in Minneapolis, Kansas (I found
nothing to confirm this though). She suggested I call the Mayor of
Marquette, ?Steve?, at City Hall. I told her I tried that and got no
answer there and she said City Hall was closed because ?Steve? was
working at the Grocery store today. (Gets more comical by the minute
don?t it?)

Ok, so I called Piper Grocery store, and you guessed it, ?Mayor Steve?
is not there. The kind grocery clerk however offered to help me with
my question though (being a grocery-bagger apparently qualifies her as
second in command there). She said that the thought free land was
being offered in the communities of Ellsworth, McDonald and others
that she couldn?t recall, and she giggled a bit when I mentioned I had
read that there were as many as ten. (I didn?t find any proof that it
was taking place in either one of these places either).

I could be wrong but I suspect that some of the facts we are reading
in some of these articles might not be entirely accurate in terms of
how many Kansas communities are participating in homestead projects
like this. And if I?m wrong, there?s certainly no abundance of proof
there are others ? at least not that I have found.

Oh, well. I tried.

Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga

Here are two new websites that list places offering free land that
were found in the following article:
http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3642

To get more information on the free land that is available in Kansas,
you can visit http://www.kansasfreeland.com which offers links to the
communities of Atwood, Plainville, Lincoln, Minneapolis, Ellsworth
county and Marquette in Kansas that are all offering free land and
other incentives.

You can also visit http://www.prairieopportunity.com which is a
website set up by six counties in Northwestern North Dakota. They are
seeking out 5,000 people that "have the right stuff to be a 21st
century pioneer."

The "free land" does get one's attention. It got mine, but keep in
mind the value of the land and other perks being offered are modest
when taken in the big scheme of things. One of the Kansas town's
websites says the value of the land and utility hookups is about
$6000. The midwest is full of places where the cost of living is
cheap, and I would certainly look into other possibilities beyond
these.  If you're not set on building a new house, you can find some
really great deals... a charming old Victorian, an acreage with a
house, barn and a stand of old trees, etc.

How important is it to be relatively close to a bigger city? There may
not be much price difference between living 1 1/2 hours from a city
versus 4 hours from a city, but if you like visiting the city it's a
big difference in convienence.

Also, at least some of the "free land" towns are concerned about
losing their schools, so do some serious research on this subject if
you have kids. It would be a shame to build a new house, only to have
the local school(s) close up in a couple of years.

Regards,

lurker

Crosby, ND
Noonan,ND (PLUS free water and sewer hook-ups.)
(Lots also are available in Ambrose and Fortuna.)
Free Lots, $500 in Chamber Bucks, 1yr family pass to swimming pool,
1yr family pass to high school sports and activities, 1yr family
country club membership, 1yr blue line hockey club membership, 1yr
membership to prarie tumbleweeds gymnastics & fitness center, free
family passes for movies at dakota theatre
Call 701-965-6006 or e-mail dsolson@state.nd.us 

*I am simply copying information off their website