New Harmony is the site of two attempts at communal living. The Harmonists under Reverend George Rapp moved here in 1814. At that time, it became the home of a group of Lutherans who had separated from the official church in Germany and immigrated to the United States. They built a new town but in 10 years, decided to join other Lutheran immigrants in Pennsylvania.
They sold the property to Robert Owen who was a wealthy industrialist and social reformer. He had a plan to create a utopian society there and renamed it new Harmony. Sadly, the experiment did not last but two years but still has had long lasting impacts on America.
Like the Shaker village we visited earlier in our journey, New Harmony created a public educational system open to both men and women. The town created the first public library and a civic drama club. All of the Owens sons were very accomplished. One became a congressmen and introduced legislation to create the Smithsonian. One was a renowned geologist and became the president of Purdue University. Numerous scientists and educators were part of this New Harmony experiment and made lasting contribution to research. Frances Wright was part of this and then went on to found a utopian community in Tennessee that tried to demonstrate how it was possible to prepare slaves to live in freedom.
One of the unique features of the town is the labyrinth. The pattern replicates the original built near Paris in the 12th century. The site is intended as a place of meditation. There are really two labyrinths in town, one etched in stone and another one that is built with shrubbery.
An Owen descendant says that New Harmony was built with the hope that education would reconcile all opinion. It will teach courtesy and relationship to one another.
New Harmony is still a vibrant community. All of the homes are well maintained and golf carts are the main mode of transportation. I am sure the traffic balloons on the weekend with tourism but we were lucky to experience a quiet and tranquil day in this place with so much history.
We've lived in Indiana for 14 years and I've never even heard of this place!