Hibbert's Gore, Population: One

Many of our ancestors lived in small towns. In some cases, the towns and villages where they lived were very small. However, one place in Maine has the smallest population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In fact, it would be impossible to have a smaller population.

The U.S. census for the Year 2000 lists Hibbert's Gore, Maine, with the following information:

Total population: 1. Number of blacks: 0. Number of Asians: 0. Number of whites: 1. Population under 18: 0.

That's right, the total population is one, and that would be Karen Keller. Hibbert's Gore is an unincorporated area of 640 acres in northern Maine. In several northeastern states, a "gore" is a location that is not claimed by any county. There are no stores, no street lamps, and no mailboxes in Hibbert's Gore. It cannot be found on very many maps.

The U.S. Census Bureau does not publish personal information about individuals, such as salary and occupation. However, the Bureau does publish the average salary of every town, village, and other location. Since this location has but one citizen, the average is the same as the one person's personal data. In effect, Karen Keller's income will be published.

Karen Keller's income is probably rather low, as are her expenses. She lives alone without electricity or running water. She claims that she is not a hermit or a loner or an extreme naturalist. However, she has struggled all her life to control bipolar disorder. She cannot deal with the confines of city life, or even of small-town life, without drugs. She prefers to live a drug-free existence; therefore, she lives in a house in the wilderness and is not encumbered by the conveniences of central heat, running water, or electricity.

50-year-old Karen Keller heats her small A-frame home with a wood stove and hauls her own water by hand. She calculates that two gallons of the water is a quick shower while five gallons provides a shampoo. She lives mostly off the land, hunting deer with a bolt-action rifle and growing her own vegetables, fruit, and herbs. She splits her own firewood. She heats water on her wood-burning stove and then funnels it through a camper's shower.

Keller spent her youth between Schenectady, New York, and Midland, Michigan. She received a bachelor's degree in natural resources at the University of Michigan and spent much of her adult life in the woods of Quebec. She lived in Vermont for a while but finally found the peace she seeks in the woods of northern Maine in that quiet place called Hibbert's Gore: Population One.

Comments

[James]

You can see the 2000 information about this town by putting "Hibberts Gore, Maine" in the American Factfinder from the US Census:
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en

Also, more information is available from the Boston Globe article about Hibberts Gore, 19 Apr 2001, "Population: 1 - Woman is Alone, Far from Forlorn in Maine Settlement," by Cindy Rodriguez, staff writer.

[James]

Oh, and the wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibberts_Gore,_Maine
about Hibberts Gore also lists three other locations in the US with only 1 person:
Erving's Location, New Hampshire, Lost Springs, Wyoming, and New Amsterdam, Indiana

Using the American Factfinder, I confirmed that these do indeed also have only 1 inhabitant. Wow!

[Carolyn (Tibbetts) Ballantyne]

My father, John C. Tibbetts, owned the land where Karen Keller now lives. He bought the property from the estate of the former resident, Everett Cunningham and that property adjoined the farm of my father, which lay over the line in Palermo. My mother, Harriet (Greeley) Tibbetts was a direct descendant of Daniel Hibbert, for whom Hibbert's Gore was named. Behind the Karen Keller house is a cemetery which contains the remains of the Eastman family. Steward Eastman (b. 1795), son of Timothy Eastman, was a first cousin to Daniel Hibbert (b. 1782). Daniel Hibbert's mother, Dorothy (Eastman) Hibbert was a sister to Timothy Eastman.

[Margaret]

It's wonderful that Karen can find the peace and solitude that she needs to be well and reasonably happy.

[Barbara Babcock]

My parents lived in Palermo, just up Turner Ridge Rd. from Hibberts Gore and my mom told me about the place without ever explaining what was unique about it. Now, I know. Thank you!
After my parents passed on, my sister and I built a cabin on the property down by Sheepscot Pond and I often tell my cabin guests about the fish hatchery on the Gore Rd. It is a place of great peace and beauty...as is much of the area in every season.

[Kenyatta D. Berry]

Wikipedia also includes an entry "List of Places with fewer than ten residents" available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_with_fewer_than_ten_residents. Just in case you are interested.

[Kenneth Lary]

A few notes:

1. Hibberts Gore is not in northern Maine. It is actually in the southern third of the state. You could drive five hours north from there and still be in Maine.

2. There are other gores in Maine. They were created when surveyors incorrectly marked the land and left small wedges (gores) that did not belong in any township.

3. You do not have to find a gore to be the only resident. I once worked with a man who had lived in one of the unincorporated townships (you see them on the map as something like "T2 R8".) At the time, he was the only person who lived there (he was just across the town line on a road.) He had to go pick up his own mail since the town that owned the rest of the road would not deliver it to him.