New Harmony, Indiana (pop. 690), became famous as an educational and cultural center during the 1820’s. Today, this quiet town in Posey County is a trading center for a farming region in the lower Wabash River Valley.
George Rapp (1757-1847), the leader of a religious group called Harmonists, founded the village of Harmonie in 1814. Rapp brought the Harmonists from the kingdom of Württemberg in Germany to escape religious persecution. They spent 10 years in Butler County, Pennsylvania, before migrating to Indiana. The Harmonists were celibate and could not own property. In 1824, Rapp led his followers back to Pennsylvania and founded the village of Economy, which is now called Ambridge. The society died out there near the end of the 1800’s.
Robert Owen, a wealthy social reformer and industrialist from Scotland, purchased the Harmonists’ Indiana town in 1825. He renamed it New Harmony and attracted new residents with the promise of an earthly utopia (perfect society). Owen established a social order based on community ownership and equality of work and profit. His partner was William Maclure, a wealthy scientist from Philadelphia who is sometimes called the “Father of American Geology.” In the 1820’s, Maclure sent the first seed for the Chinese golden-rain trees to Thomas Say, a geologist in New Harmony. These golden-rain, or gate, trees now line the streets of the town.
The experiment in community living made New Harmony famous. Scientists and scholars flocked to the town. But few of the 1,000 or more Owenites understood the principles of the experiment, and they split into several factions. By 1827, Owen’s plan had failed. New Harmony remained an educational, scientific, and cultural center until the Civil War. The Minerva Club, the first woman’s club to have a constitution and bylaws, was organized at New Harmony in 1859. Some of the buildings erected by the Harmonists and Owenites have been restored.
See also Indiana (Schools) (Places to visit) ; Owen, Robert ; Owen, Robert Dale .
