A View of History -- New Harmony, Indiana

When I planned my trip this summer, one of my destinations was New Harmony, Indiana A planned.  community started in 1814 by a German speaking religious group who wished to maintain their way of life. I stayed with my Hip camp hosts in Evansville, Indiana and took the Road Queen on a rather strange and twisted ride to get to the town as my route was missing some rather informative signage due to construction along the way. On both the way to and from, I found myself in Kentucky ... I know, the map woman was misplaced once again but, hey, it's part of the adventure, yes? LOL 

Eventually I did make my way to the town that has been preserved for all of us to learn from. Started by the Harmonists  who relocated from Pennsylvania, they were truly ahead of their time. They built homes in the 1800 with glass windows and wood siding and they were all the same ... a truly early version of tract homes. Every one had the same floor plan, the same window and door layout. No matter the size of the family, they all got the same size and layout of a house. The Harmonists built a whole town in an amazingly short period of time, including clearing trees, processing the lumber and building the homes. They were a very industrious community, however because they felt that the rapture was eminent, they eventually all took an oath of celibacy and quit procreating, thus eventually leading to their own demise later in years when they had relocated back to Pennsylvania where they originally came from.

When they left their town in Indiana, they sold the entire town to a pair if industrialists who had an idea to create a utopian society. The town already had housing, a lumber mill, a production facility for cloth, clothing, food, water (after all, the settlers originally came there on a river) and seemed the ideal place to pursue their passion. They gave every employee a house. They treated women and men equally. They educated all children, both boys and girls! 

From Wikipedia, here is a small sampling of the innovations that came from this utopian experiment: New Harmony changed American education and scientific research. Town residents established the first public library, a civic drama club, and a public school system open to men and women. Its prominent citizens inc Owen's sons: Robert Dale Owen, an Indiana congressman and social reformer who sponsored legislation to create the Smithsonian Institution; David Dale Owen, a noted state and federal geologist; William Owen, a New Harmony businessman; and Richard Owen,^[5] Indiana state geologist, Indiana University professor, and first president of Purdue University. The town also served as the second headquarters of the U.S. Geological Survey. Numerous scientists and educators contributed to New Harmony's intellectual community, including William Maclure, Marie Louise Duclos Fretageot, Thomas Say, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, Joseph Neef, Frances Wright, and others.

Unfortunately, not every citizen was a willing participant and socialism only flourishes in an environment of complete buy in. Eventually, the utopian experiment failed and the town became a historical treasure for the gifts the two groups had given it. It is a beautifully kept town, with a mix of original historical buildings and added ones that fit into the the rich cultural heritage of the past. There is a fantastic visitor center and our tour guide, Heidi, was a wealth of information and extremely interesting. I took a two hour shuttle tour with various stops and tours of buildings around town. It was well worth the afternoon.

Coinicidentally, Heidi and I spoke when I signed up for the tour and she knows Troy and Jubilee! She texted them to let them know we had met! I would have liked to have spent more time in town and if and when I get back that way, I will go again to see what I missed. Hopefully, next time I won't get lost! LOL

On to my next adventure, I left on Thursday morning and found my way across the Mississippi river to the town of Cape Girardeau, in Missouri, which I have to assume also has some history associated with the name. That, however, is for another adventure.

Friday morning and I am heading to Arkansas to camp for the weekend in Flippin at another HipCamp facility. This one is larger and is a family oriented private campground in the Ozark Mountains, that my Buffalo and I fell in love with over and over again. Looking forward to seeing my beloved Arkansas and visiting where I spread some of Buffalo's ashes.

Peace all. 

Bobbi