Ripton, Massachusetts

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A professor at the University of Massachusetts sought to demonstrate, and protest, the ignorance of the bureaucracy in Boston, the capital, of the rural portions of the commonwealth. To do so, he invented a fictitious town, Ripton. He then proceeded to apply for various grants and other official assistance, and the town was allotted funds in the state budget.^[1]

Several checks were issued, and deposited in an escrow account, before the hoax was uncovered. The funds were returned and the matter dropped.

As a protest of the issue today, some signposts in the western portion of Massachusetts still contain "directions" to Ripton. Lawmakers in Western Massachusetts continued to humorously reference the incident in proposed state budgets.^[2]

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