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The Shipyard That Got Away - Part 1

© Christina Coruth

In December of 1985, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard worker Victor Bourre decided to wish the shipyard master a Merry Christmas. Little did he know when he entered the shipyard master's office to spread some Christmas cheer that he would see a map of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard that would set him on a quest - a quest that would consume the next 15 years of his life.

First some background information is necessary in order to understand Victor Bourre's quest. Completed in June of 1800, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is located on Seavey Island in Portsmouth Harbor in the mouth of the Piscataqua River. The Piscataqua separates Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Kittery, Maine. Maine claims the land the shipyard occupies. Although the shipyard is a Federal facility, the workers, including those from New Hampshire, pay Maine income taxes. In 1969, Maine instituted an income tax based on "family wages." Therefore, the taxes paid by New Hampshire workers are determined by their wages and the wages of their spouses, even if the spouses do not work in Maine. New Hampshire workers have long resented being forced to pay Maine income taxes and felt that taxing the wages of spouses is downright unfair and wrong. New Hampshire has no income tax.

As of that December day when he walked into the shipyard master's office, Victor Bourre, a resident of Dover, New Hampshire, had worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for about 11 years. He felt the same resentment his fellow New Hampshire coworkers felt about being forced to pay the Maine income tax. Yet he, like his coworkers, was resigned to it - until he saw a map. Much to his surprise, the old map hanging in the shipyard master's office depicted the projected plans to build a naval shipyard on Seavey Island in Portsmouth Harbor, and the caption clearly stated that the shipyard would be part of Portsmouth, New Hampshire! Since the shipyard was ultimately constructed on the site depicted in the map, Bourre resolved to find out if the map was correct. If so, the tax burden imposed by Maine on the shipyard workers would cease to exist.

In order to prove that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is located in New Hampshire, he would have to prove that the entire Piscataqua River is located in New Hampshire and that its northern shore is the borderline with Kittery, Maine. He set about his task researching through old records and maps. His home soon became the repository for mounds of proof - copies of archives of maps and written records, decrees, and deeds. He so firmly believed that his research proved the shipyard resided in New Hampshire that he stopped paying the Maine income tax in the early 1990s. At about the same time, he persuaded Senator Bob Smith's office to join in the research. In 1997, Bourre took early retirement to devote himself full-time to the cause of securing the shipyard for New Hampshire. He convinced the State of New Hampshire to seek a resolution to the border dispute in the Supreme Court.

The copyright of the article The Shipyard That Got Away - Part 1 in New Hampshire is owned by Christina Coruth. Permission to republish The Shipyard That Got Away - Part 1 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.