Nation's Smallest Parcel?

"The real estate deal that resulted in the tiny parcel dates to the 1960s, when a homeowner's association decreed that only landowners could swim in Cataract Lake's cool waters or fish there for blue gill. One resident decided to get around that rule by writing up a deed to his relatives, giving them ownership of a single square inch of his land.

When the owner of the full parcel failed to pay the mortgage on the property, First National Bank of Cloverdale foreclosed in 2002, county officials said. Because of the unusual deed, the bank broke out the one-inch parcel as a separate plot from the larger 1.12-acre property, Lawson said.

Even though the larger property sold, the taxes kept piling up on the tiny parcel as if it were the larger property. The outstanding tax bill is now $1,224 — not much shy of the county minimum for a tax auction, as it turns out."