New Harmony, Indiana
Encyclopedia
New Harmony is a historic town on the Wabash River
in Harmony Township
, Posey County
, Indiana
, United States
. It lies 15 miles (24.1 km) north of Mount Vernon
, the county seat
. The population was 916 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Evansville metropolitan area
. Many of the old Harmonist buildings still stand and have been restored. The New Harmony State Memorial is located here. Just to the south of town on State Road 69 is Harmonie State Park
.
, headed by German
immigrant George Rapp
(actually Johann Georg Rapp) in 1814. This was the second of three towns built by the pietist
, communal
German religious group, known as Harmonists, Harmonites or Rappites; they settled in Indiana after leaving Harmony, Pennsylvania
, and after leaving Indiana, they founded the community of Economy, Pennsylvania
, now called Ambridge
. When the society decided to move back to Pennsylvania
around 1824, they sold the 30000 acres (121.4 km²) of land and buildings to Robert Owen
, the Welsh utopia
n thinker and social reformer, and to William Maclure
for $150,000, who then changed the name from "Harmony" to "New Harmony." Owen recruited residents to his model community, but a number of factors led to an early breakup of the socialist community.
The figure shown here as "New Harmony as envisioned by Owen" was captioned by the architect who drew the figure, Stedman Whitwell, as "Design for a Community of 2000 Person founded upon a principle Commended by Plato, Lord Bacon and Sir Thomas More." Whitwell (1784–1840) lived in New Harmony during 1825. In Edward Royle
's Robert Owen and the Commencement of the Millennium, (Manchester University Press, 1998), Whitwell's figure is presented in a chapter on Harmony, the name of Owen's community in Hampshire, England, dating from 1841, although the figure was published in 1830 and almost certainly existed as early as 1825.
The experiment was established in 1825 and dissolved in 1829 due to constant quarrels. The town banned money and other commodities. Individualist anarchist Josiah Warren
, who was one of the original participants in the New Harmony Society, asserted that the community was doomed to failure due to a lack of individual sovereignty and private property. He wrote of the community: "It seemed that the difference of opinion, tastes and purposes increased just in proportion to the demand for conformity. Two years were worn out in this way; at the end of which, I believe that not more than three persons had the least hope of success. Most of the experimenters left in despair of all reforms, and conservatism felt itself confirmed. We had tried every conceivable form of organization and government. We had a world in miniature. --we had enacted the French revolution over again with despairing hearts instead of corpses as a result. ...It appeared that it was nature's own inherent law of diversity that had conquered us ...our 'united interests' were directly at war with the individualities of persons and circumstances and the instinct of self-preservation... and it was evident that just in proportion to the contact of persons or interests, so are concessions and compromises indispensable." (Periodical Letter II 1856).
Although Owen's vision of New Harmony as an advance in social reform was not realized, the town did become a scientific center of national significance. As President of the Academy of Natural Sciences
of Philadelphia, William Maclure brought naturalists Thomas Say
and Charles-Alexandre Lesueur to New Harmony from Philadelphia. Say has been called the father of American entomology
and the father of American conchology
. Many species were first described by both Say and Leseuer, and many have been named in their honor. Say died in New Harmony in 1834, and Leseuer returned to his native France in 1837.
In 1837, David Dale Owen, a son of Robert Owen, finished his formal education as a medical doctor. However, returning to New Harmony, and having been much influenced by Robert Maclure and Gerhard Troost, Owen became a geologist. With headquarters in New Harmony, Owen conducted the first official geological survey of Indiana (1837–39), and he led federal surveys in 1839-40 and 1847-51. Owen was the first state geologist of three states: Indiana, Kentucky, and Arkansas. His museum in New Harmony was known as the largest museum west of the Alleghenies. At the time of his death in 1860, the museum included some 85,000 items. Of Owen's many publications, perhaps the most significant is his 638-page Report of a Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota and Incidentally of a Portion of Nebraska Territory, including colored maps and drawings of fossils, published in Philadelphia in 1852.
Among younger men under David Dale Owen's leadership and influence during the survey just mentioned were Benjamin Shumard Franklin (for whom the Shumard oak is named, first state geologist of Texas, hired by Sam Houston), Amos Henry Worthen (second state geologist of Illinois), Fielding B. Meek (first full-time paleontologist of the Smithsonian Institution), and Richard Owen (brother of David Dale Owen, resident of New Harmony, second state geologist of Indiana, first president of Purdue University).
One of David Dale Owen's colleagues and co-authors, also a medical doctor, was Joseph Granville Norwood. Dr. Norwood was the first state geologist of Illinois (1851–1858). From 1851 to 1854, the Illinois State Geological Survey was headquartered in New Harmony.
In 1838, William Maclure established The Working Men's Institute in New Harmony. It includes the oldest continuously operating library in the state of Indiana, as well as a small museum. The vault in the library contains many historic manuscripts, letters, and documents pertaining to the history of New Harmony.
The eldest son of Robert Owen was Robert Dale Owen
(several of Robert Owen's children were given the middle name Dale in honor of Owen's father-in-law, David Dale), a social reformer and intellectual of national importance. As a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1847, he introduced the bill establishing the Smithsonian Institution
, and he served as chairman of the Smithsonian Building Committee. He arranged for his brother David Dale Owen to sample a large number of possible building stones for the Smithsonian Castle. D. D. Owen selected the distinctive Seneca Creek Sandstone of which that building is constructed.
Later, R. D. Owen held the diplomatic position of charge d'affairs (1853–1858) in Naples, Italy. In the 1850s, he began studying spiritualism, and in 1860, his book Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World aroused something of a literary sensation. Among his hecklers in the Boston Investigator and at home in the New Harmony Advertiser were John and Margaret Chappellsmith, he formerly an artist for David Dale Owen's geological publications, and she a former Owenite lecturer.
The history of education at New Harmony involves several teachers who, already well-established in their fields, moved to New Harmony, largely through the efforts of William Maclure. These Pestalozzian educators included Marie Duclos Fretageot, Joseph Neef, Lucy Sistaire Say, and Cornelius Tiebout. Fretageot had managed a Pestalozzian school in Philadelphia and in New Harmony became Maclure's administrator during his residence in Mexico. The correspondence of Maclure and Fretageot, 1820-1833 was extensive and is documented in Joesphine Mirabella Elliott's 1182-page book, Partnership for Posterity.
In 1808, Joseph Neef published the first work on educational method to be written in English in the United States, entitled Sketch of A Plan and Method of Education. Neef, following Maclure's curriculum, superintended the higher school in New Harmony, in which were enrolled up to 200 students, ranging in age from five to twelve. On March 23, 1837, two of Joseph and Luise Neef's daughters married two of Robert Owen's sons. In fact, it was a triple marriage, the partners being Richard Owen and Anne Eliza Neef, David Dale Owen and Caroline Neef, and William Owen and Mary Bolton.
Lucy Sistare had been an apprentice at Fretageot's Pestalizzioan school in Philadelphia. On her way to New Harmony she got to know Thomas Say, and they were married in Mt. Vernon, near New Harmony, on January 4, 1827. As an accomplished artist, Lucy Say made 66 of the 68 illustrations in her husband's book, American Conchology, of which Parts 1 - 6 were published in New Harmony during 1830-1834; Part 7 was published in Philadelphia in 1836.
Cornelius Tiebout was an artist and printer of considerable fame at the time he joined the New Harmony community in September, 1826. In New Harmony, he taught printing. Among Tiebout's best-known engravings are George Washington (1798), Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States (1800), Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States (1801), Constitution (USS Constitution dueling with British frigate Guerriere, War of 1812, engraved 1813). These and others are well represented on the Internet. Tiebout died in New Harmony in 1832.
About 35 buildings from the utopian community remain; they constitute the New Harmony Historic District
, which is a National Historic Landmark
. The history of New Harmony includes the work of the New Harmony historian and resident, Josephine Mirabella Elliott. New Harmony's Atheneum
depicts the history of the community.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the town has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²), of which, 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it is land and 1.56% is water. The Wabash River
forms the western boundary of New Harmony.
of 2000, there were 916 people, 382 households, and 228 families residing in the town. The population density
was 1,441.5 people per square mile (552.6/km²). There were 432 housing units at an average density of 679.8 per square mile (260.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.91% White, 0.55% Native American, 0.22% Asian, and 0.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population.
There were 382 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples
living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 38.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.80.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 29.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 82.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $28,182, and the median income for a family was $40,865. Males had a median income of $39,250 versus $21,607 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $17,349. About 12.2% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.
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Paul Tillich Park commemorates the renowned 20th century theologian, Paul Johannes Tillich. The park was dedicated on 2 June 1963, and Tillich's ashes were interred there in 1965.
Located just across North Main Street from the Roofless Church in New Harmony, Indiana, the park consists of a stand of evergreens on elevated ground surrounding a walkway. Along the walkway there are several large stones on which are inscribed quotations from Tillich's writings. James Rosati
's sculpture of Tillich's head rises at the north end of the walkway, backed by a clearing and a large pond.
Those who walk the Tillich Park Finger Labyrinth, which was created by Rev. Bill Ressl after an inspirational walk through the park, are also invited to ponder the quotations and discern Tillich's systematic theology.
Wabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
in Harmony Township
Harmony Township, Posey County, Indiana
Harmony Township is one of ten townships in Posey County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 1,473.-Adjacent Townships:* Indiana** Posey County*** Center Township *** Lynn Township *** Robb Township...
, Posey County
Posey County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,061 people, 10,205 households, and 7,612 families residing in the county. The population density was 66 people per square mile . There were 11,076 housing units at an average density of 27 per square mile...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It lies 15 miles (24.1 km) north of Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon, Indiana
Mount Vernon is a city in southern Indiana along the Ohio River and the county seat of Posey County. It is located in Black Township. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 6,687...
, the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
. The population was 916 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Evansville metropolitan area
Evansville, IN-KY Metropolitan Statistical Area
The Evansville, IN-KY Metropolitan Statistical Area is the 142nd largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States. The primary city is Evansville, Indiana. Other Indiana cities include Boonville, Mount Vernon, Oakland City, and Princeton...
. Many of the old Harmonist buildings still stand and have been restored. The New Harmony State Memorial is located here. Just to the south of town on State Road 69 is Harmonie State Park
Harmonie State Park
HarmonieDesignationState ParkLocationIndiana USANearest CitiesNew Harmony, IndianaCoordinatesArea Date of Establishment1966Governing BodyIndiana DNRHarmonie is a state park in Indiana...
.
History
New Harmony, formerly named Harmony, was founded by the Harmony SocietyHarmony Society
The Harmony Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist society founded in Iptingen, Germany, in 1785. Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Württemberg, the Harmony Society moved to the United States on October 7, 1803, initially purchasing of land in Butler...
, headed by German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
immigrant George Rapp
George Rapp
Johann Georg Rapp was the founder of the religious sect called Harmonists, Harmonites, Rappites, or the Harmony Society....
(actually Johann Georg Rapp) in 1814. This was the second of three towns built by the pietist
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
, communal
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
German religious group, known as Harmonists, Harmonites or Rappites; they settled in Indiana after leaving Harmony, Pennsylvania
Harmony, Pennsylvania
Harmony is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 937 at the 2000 census. It is located about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Geography:...
, and after leaving Indiana, they founded the community of Economy, Pennsylvania
Old Economy Village
Old Economy Village is a historic settlement in Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, it lies on the banks of the Ohio River and is surrounded by downtown Ambridge...
, now called Ambridge
Ambridge, Pennsylvania
Ambridge is a borough in Beaver County in Western Pennsylvania, incorporated in 1905 and named after the American Bridge Company. Ambridge is located 16 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, alongside the Ohio River. In 1910, 5,205 people lived in Ambridge; in 1920, 12,730 people lived there, and in...
. When the society decided to move back to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
around 1824, they sold the 30000 acres (121.4 km²) of land and buildings to Robert Owen
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
, the Welsh utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n thinker and social reformer, and to William Maclure
William Maclure
William Maclure, American - British social experimenter on new types of community life together with British social reformer Robert Owen, , in Indiana State, U. S. A....
for $150,000, who then changed the name from "Harmony" to "New Harmony." Owen recruited residents to his model community, but a number of factors led to an early breakup of the socialist community.
Edward Royle
Edward Royle is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of York and author of books on the history of religious ideas, particularly in Yorkshire.-Career:...
's Robert Owen and the Commencement of the Millennium, (Manchester University Press, 1998), Whitwell's figure is presented in a chapter on Harmony, the name of Owen's community in Hampshire, England, dating from 1841, although the figure was published in 1830 and almost certainly existed as early as 1825.
The experiment was established in 1825 and dissolved in 1829 due to constant quarrels. The town banned money and other commodities. Individualist anarchist Josiah Warren
Josiah Warren
Josiah Warren was an individualist anarchist, inventor, musician, and author in the United States. He is widely regarded as the first American anarchist, and the four-page weekly paper he edited during 1833, The Peaceful Revolutionist, was the first anarchist periodical published, an enterprise...
, who was one of the original participants in the New Harmony Society, asserted that the community was doomed to failure due to a lack of individual sovereignty and private property. He wrote of the community: "It seemed that the difference of opinion, tastes and purposes increased just in proportion to the demand for conformity. Two years were worn out in this way; at the end of which, I believe that not more than three persons had the least hope of success. Most of the experimenters left in despair of all reforms, and conservatism felt itself confirmed. We had tried every conceivable form of organization and government. We had a world in miniature. --we had enacted the French revolution over again with despairing hearts instead of corpses as a result. ...It appeared that it was nature's own inherent law of diversity that had conquered us ...our 'united interests' were directly at war with the individualities of persons and circumstances and the instinct of self-preservation... and it was evident that just in proportion to the contact of persons or interests, so are concessions and compromises indispensable." (Periodical Letter II 1856).
Although Owen's vision of New Harmony as an advance in social reform was not realized, the town did become a scientific center of national significance. As President of the Academy of Natural Sciences
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World...
of Philadelphia, William Maclure brought naturalists Thomas Say
Thomas Say
Thomas Say was an American naturalist, entomologist, malacologist, herpetologist and carcinologist. A taxonomist, he is often considered to be the father of descriptive entomology in the United States. He described more than 1,000 new species of beetles and over 400 species of insects of other...
and Charles-Alexandre Lesueur to New Harmony from Philadelphia. Say has been called the father of American entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
and the father of American conchology
Conchology
Conchology is the scientific or amateur study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs, however malacology studies molluscs as whole organisms, not just their shells. Conchology pre-dated malacology as a field of study. It includes the study of land and...
. Many species were first described by both Say and Leseuer, and many have been named in their honor. Say died in New Harmony in 1834, and Leseuer returned to his native France in 1837.
In 1837, David Dale Owen, a son of Robert Owen, finished his formal education as a medical doctor. However, returning to New Harmony, and having been much influenced by Robert Maclure and Gerhard Troost, Owen became a geologist. With headquarters in New Harmony, Owen conducted the first official geological survey of Indiana (1837–39), and he led federal surveys in 1839-40 and 1847-51. Owen was the first state geologist of three states: Indiana, Kentucky, and Arkansas. His museum in New Harmony was known as the largest museum west of the Alleghenies. At the time of his death in 1860, the museum included some 85,000 items. Of Owen's many publications, perhaps the most significant is his 638-page Report of a Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota and Incidentally of a Portion of Nebraska Territory, including colored maps and drawings of fossils, published in Philadelphia in 1852.
Among younger men under David Dale Owen's leadership and influence during the survey just mentioned were Benjamin Shumard Franklin (for whom the Shumard oak is named, first state geologist of Texas, hired by Sam Houston), Amos Henry Worthen (second state geologist of Illinois), Fielding B. Meek (first full-time paleontologist of the Smithsonian Institution), and Richard Owen (brother of David Dale Owen, resident of New Harmony, second state geologist of Indiana, first president of Purdue University).
One of David Dale Owen's colleagues and co-authors, also a medical doctor, was Joseph Granville Norwood. Dr. Norwood was the first state geologist of Illinois (1851–1858). From 1851 to 1854, the Illinois State Geological Survey was headquartered in New Harmony.
In 1838, William Maclure established The Working Men's Institute in New Harmony. It includes the oldest continuously operating library in the state of Indiana, as well as a small museum. The vault in the library contains many historic manuscripts, letters, and documents pertaining to the history of New Harmony.
The eldest son of Robert Owen was Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen was a longtime exponent in his adopted United States of the socialist doctrines of his father, Robert Owen, as well as a politician in the Democratic Party.-Biography:...
(several of Robert Owen's children were given the middle name Dale in honor of Owen's father-in-law, David Dale), a social reformer and intellectual of national importance. As a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1847, he introduced the bill establishing the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, and he served as chairman of the Smithsonian Building Committee. He arranged for his brother David Dale Owen to sample a large number of possible building stones for the Smithsonian Castle. D. D. Owen selected the distinctive Seneca Creek Sandstone of which that building is constructed.
Later, R. D. Owen held the diplomatic position of charge d'affairs (1853–1858) in Naples, Italy. In the 1850s, he began studying spiritualism, and in 1860, his book Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World aroused something of a literary sensation. Among his hecklers in the Boston Investigator and at home in the New Harmony Advertiser were John and Margaret Chappellsmith, he formerly an artist for David Dale Owen's geological publications, and she a former Owenite lecturer.
The history of education at New Harmony involves several teachers who, already well-established in their fields, moved to New Harmony, largely through the efforts of William Maclure. These Pestalozzian educators included Marie Duclos Fretageot, Joseph Neef, Lucy Sistaire Say, and Cornelius Tiebout. Fretageot had managed a Pestalozzian school in Philadelphia and in New Harmony became Maclure's administrator during his residence in Mexico. The correspondence of Maclure and Fretageot, 1820-1833 was extensive and is documented in Joesphine Mirabella Elliott's 1182-page book, Partnership for Posterity.
In 1808, Joseph Neef published the first work on educational method to be written in English in the United States, entitled Sketch of A Plan and Method of Education. Neef, following Maclure's curriculum, superintended the higher school in New Harmony, in which were enrolled up to 200 students, ranging in age from five to twelve. On March 23, 1837, two of Joseph and Luise Neef's daughters married two of Robert Owen's sons. In fact, it was a triple marriage, the partners being Richard Owen and Anne Eliza Neef, David Dale Owen and Caroline Neef, and William Owen and Mary Bolton.
Lucy Sistare had been an apprentice at Fretageot's Pestalizzioan school in Philadelphia. On her way to New Harmony she got to know Thomas Say, and they were married in Mt. Vernon, near New Harmony, on January 4, 1827. As an accomplished artist, Lucy Say made 66 of the 68 illustrations in her husband's book, American Conchology, of which Parts 1 - 6 were published in New Harmony during 1830-1834; Part 7 was published in Philadelphia in 1836.
Cornelius Tiebout was an artist and printer of considerable fame at the time he joined the New Harmony community in September, 1826. In New Harmony, he taught printing. Among Tiebout's best-known engravings are George Washington (1798), Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States (1800), Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States (1801), Constitution (USS Constitution dueling with British frigate Guerriere, War of 1812, engraved 1813). These and others are well represented on the Internet. Tiebout died in New Harmony in 1832.
About 35 buildings from the utopian community remain; they constitute the New Harmony Historic District
New Harmony Historic District
The New Harmony Historic District in New Harmony, Indiana, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, with a boundary increase in 2000. The area includes sites within the Historic New Harmony State Historic Site...
, which is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. The history of New Harmony includes the work of the New Harmony historian and resident, Josephine Mirabella Elliott. New Harmony's Atheneum
New Harmony's Atheneum
New Harmony's Atheneum is the visitor center for New Harmony, Indiana. It is named for the Greek Athenaion, which was a temple dedicated to Athena in ancient Greece...
depicts the history of the community.
Geography
New Harmony is located at 38°7′43"N 87°56′3"W (38.128583, -87.934122).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²), of which, 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it is land and 1.56% is water. The Wabash River
Wabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
forms the western boundary of New Harmony.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 916 people, 382 households, and 228 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,441.5 people per square mile (552.6/km²). There were 432 housing units at an average density of 679.8 per square mile (260.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.91% White, 0.55% Native American, 0.22% Asian, and 0.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population.
There were 382 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 38.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.80.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 29.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 82.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $28,182, and the median income for a family was $40,865. Males had a median income of $39,250 versus $21,607 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $17,349. About 12.2% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.
Paul Tillich Park
Located just across North Main Street from the Roofless Church in New Harmony, Indiana, the park consists of a stand of evergreens on elevated ground surrounding a walkway. Along the walkway there are several large stones on which are inscribed quotations from Tillich's writings. James Rosati
James Rosati
James Rosati was an American abstract sculptor.Born in Pennsylvania, Rosati moved to New York in 1944, where he befriended fellow sculptor Philip Pavia. He was a charter member of the Eighth Street Club and the New York School of abstract expressionists...
's sculpture of Tillich's head rises at the north end of the walkway, backed by a clearing and a large pond.
Those who walk the Tillich Park Finger Labyrinth, which was created by Rev. Bill Ressl after an inspirational walk through the park, are also invited to ponder the quotations and discern Tillich's systematic theology.
Highways
Indiana State Road 66Indiana State Road 66State Road 66 is an east–west highway in six counties in the southernmost portion of the U.S. state of Indiana.-Route description:State Road 66 begins at the eastern end of a toll bridge over the Wabash River in New Harmony and ends at U.S. Route 150 east of Hardinsburg...
Indiana State Road 69Indiana State Road 69State Road 69 is a route that runs from south to north through western Posey County in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Indiana.-Route description:...
Arts
- New Harmony is the setting for the season three finale of The CWThe CW Television NetworkThe CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
television series SupernaturalSupernatural (TV series)Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
. - New Harmony figures prominently in the premier novel by Eric DurchholzEric DurchholzEric Durchholz, who publishes under his legal name, Eric Durchholz, and also writes under the pseudonym Jaya Mangelou, is an author, 3-D and multimedia graphic artist, and former Internet radio host...
entitled The Promise of EdenThe Promise of EdenThe Promise of Eden is the premier novel of author Eric Durchholz. It was printed in 1999 by Concrete Books. It is a work of fiction in the science fantasy genre.- Plot :...
. - A short experimental film titled The Ends of Utopia was created in 2009 by a Vanderbilt University student.
See also
- Harmony SocietyHarmony SocietyThe Harmony Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist society founded in Iptingen, Germany, in 1785. Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Württemberg, the Harmony Society moved to the United States on October 7, 1803, initially purchasing of land in Butler...
- George RappGeorge RappJohann Georg Rapp was the founder of the religious sect called Harmonists, Harmonites, Rappites, or the Harmony Society....
- Harmony, PennsylvaniaHarmony, PennsylvaniaHarmony is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 937 at the 2000 census. It is located about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Geography:...
- Ambridge, PennsylvaniaAmbridge, PennsylvaniaAmbridge is a borough in Beaver County in Western Pennsylvania, incorporated in 1905 and named after the American Bridge Company. Ambridge is located 16 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, alongside the Ohio River. In 1910, 5,205 people lived in Ambridge; in 1920, 12,730 people lived there, and in...
- Old Economy VillageOld Economy VillageOld Economy Village is a historic settlement in Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, it lies on the banks of the Ohio River and is surrounded by downtown Ambridge...
- New Harmony Toll BridgeNew Harmony Toll BridgeThe New Harmony Toll Bridge, also known as the Harmony Way Bridge, is a two-lane bridge across the Wabash River that connects Illinois Route 14 with Indiana State Road 66, which is Church Street in New Harmony, Indiana. The bridge links White County, Illinois with Posey County, Indiana...
History
- Karl J. R. Arndt, compiler and editor, A Documentary History of the Indiana Decade of the Harmony Society 1814-1824, vols. I-II, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, 1975.
- Arthur BestorArthur BestorArthur Eugene Bestor, Jr. was an American historian.Bestor was born in Chautauqua, New York, the eldest son of Arthur E. Bestor and Jeannette Lemon. Arthur E...
, Backwoods Utopias, University of Pennsylvania Press (1950, 2nd. ed. 1970) - Don Blair, The New Harmony Story, The New Harmony Publication Committee, 1967.
- Donald F. Carmony and Josephine M. Elliott, "New Harmony, Indiana: Robert Owen's Seedbed for Utopia," Indiana Magazine of History, September, 1980, pp. 161–261.
- Thomas James De la Hunt, editor, History of the New Harmony Workingmen's Institute, New Harmony, Indiana, Evansville, 1927.
- Jeffrey Douglas, ""William Maclure and the New Harmony Working Men's Institute," Libraries and Culture 26 (1991) 402-414.
- Josephine Mirabella Elliott, editor, Partnership for Posterity: The Correspondence of William MaclurHarmony), 1999.
- John Kenneth Galbraith, The Ae of Uncertainty: The Prophets and Promise of Classical Capitalism, BBC, 1977.
- Gerald Lee Gutek, Joseph Neef: the Americanization of Pestalozzianism, The University of Alabama Press, 1978.
- Charles W. Hackensmith, Biography of Joseph Neef, Educator in the Ohio Valley, 1809–1854, Carlton Press, New York, 1973
- J. F. C. Harrison, Robert Owen and the Owenite Movement in Britain and America: The Quest for the New Moral World, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1969.
- Josephine Mirabella Elliott, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur: Premier Naturalist and Artist, (New * Walter Brookfield Hendrickson, David Dale Owen: Pioneer Geologist of the Middle West, Indiana Historical Bureau, Indianapolis, 1943.
- Clark Kimberling, "David Dale Owen and Joseph Granville Norwood: Pioneer Geologists in Indiana and Illinois," Indiana Magazine of History, XCII, March, 1996, pp. 2–25.
- Elfrieda Lang, "The Inhabitants of New Harmony According to the Federal Census of 1850," Indiana Magazine of History XLII, no. 4, December, 1946, pp. 355–394.
- Richard William Leopold, Robert Dale Owen: A Biography, Harvard University Press, 1940; reprinted by Octagon Books, New York, 1969.
- G. B. Lockwood, The New Harmony Communities, (New York, 1905)
- Donald E. Pitzer, "The Original Boatload of Knowledge Down the Ohio River: William Maclure's and Robert Owen's Transfer of Science and Education to the Midwest, 1825-1826," Ohio Journal of Science, December, 1989, pp. 128–42.
- Patricia Tyson Stroud, Thomas Say: New World Naturalist, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1992.
- William E. Wilson, The Angel and the Serpent, The Story of New Harmony, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1967, second edition.
- Marguerite Young, Angel in the Forest: A Fairy Tale of Two Utopias, Scribners, New York, 1945.
Paul Tillich
- Ruediger Reitz, Paul Tillich und New Harmony, Evangelisches Verlagswerk Stuttgart/Germany, 1970.
- Wilhelm and Marion PauckWilhelm PauckWilhelm Pauck was born in Laasphe, Germany. He was a Reformation church historian and a historical theologian who studied at Berlin under Ernst Troeltsch and Karl Holl. During a year away from Berlin, he attended lectures by Adolf von Harnack and Karl Barth...
, Paul Tillich: His Life & Thought; Volume I: Life, Harper & Row, New York, 1976. - William Ressl and Penny Taylor, Excerpts from The Paul Tillich Archive of New Harmony, Indiana from the Collection of Mrs. Jane Blaffer Owen: Part Two, Paul Tillich and New Harmony, Indiana, Why Paul Tillich and New Harmony, Indiana?, Book, WorldCat OCLC 180767473, 2007.
The Atheneum and Richard Meier
- Richard MeierRichard MeierRichard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier is Jewish and was born in Newark, New Jersey...
Architect. New York: Rizzoli, 1984. pp. 190–215. - Abercrombie, Stanley. "A Vision Continued." AIA Journal, mid-May 1980, pp. 126–137.
- "The Architecture of the Promenade: The Atheneum." International Architect 3, 1980, pp. 13–24.
- Cassara, Silvio. "Intrinsic Qualities of Remembrances. The Atheneum at New Harmony, Indiana." Parametro, July/August 1976, pp. 16–19, 59.
- Cohen, Arthur. "Richard Meier, Creator of a New Harmony: An Architect Builds a Classic Meeting Hall for the Nations Heartland." United Mainliner, March 1980, pp. 25–65.
- Huxtable, Ada Louise. "A Radical New Addition for Mid-America." The New York Times, 30 September 1979, sec. 2, pp. 1, 31.
- Goldberger, Paul. "The Atheneum: Utopia Lives." Vogue, February 1980, pp. 250–251, 296.
- Klotz, Heinrich, ed. "Das Athenaeum." Text by Richard Meier. Jahrbuch für Architektur: Neues Bauen 1980-1981, pp. 53–64.
- Magnago Lampugnani, Vittorio. Architecture of Our Century in Drawings: Utopia and Reality. Stuttgart: Verlag Gerd Hatje, 1982, pp. 106–107.
- Marlin, William. "Dissonance in New Harmony." Inland Architect, December 1981, pp. 20–28.
- Marlin, William. "Revitalizing Architectural Legacy of an American 'Camelot.'" The Christian Science Monitor, 16 April 1976, p. 26.
- Rykwert, Joseph. "New Harmony Propylaeon." Domus, February 1980, pp. 12–17.
- Shezen, Roberto. "La via storica: L'Atheneum di New harmony nell' Indiana di Richard Meier." Gran Bazaar, January/February 1982, pp. 128–135.
- Stephens, Suzanne. "Emblematic Edifice: The Atheneum, New Harmony, Indiana." Progressive Architecture, February 1980, pp. 67–75.
- Zevi, Bruno. "Un UFO nel campo de grano." L'Espresso, 6 April 1980, p. 124.
- Futagawa, Yukio, ed. "Collage and Study Sketches for the Atheneum."; "Meier's Atheneum." by Kenneth Frampton; "Richard Meier, An American Architect." by Arthur Cohen; "The Atheneum, New Harmony, Ind. (First Scheme)."; "The Atheneum (Executed Scheme)." GA Document 1, 1980, pp. 25–65.
- Futagawa, Yukio, ed. "The Atheneum, New Harmony, Indiana. 1975-1979." Text by Paul Goldberger. Global Architecture 60, 1981. Reprinted in Global Architecture Book 6: Public Buildings. Tokyo: A.D.A. Edita Co., 1981, n.p.
- Haker, Werner. "New Harmony und das Athenaeum von Richard Meier." Werk, Bauen + Wohnen, December 1980, pp. 44–53.
- "Harmonious Museum for New Harmony." Life, February 1980, pp. 60–62.
- Meier, Richard. "Comments on The Atheneum, New Harmony, Indiana; Manchester Civic Center, Manchester, New Hampshire." Harvard Architectural Review, Spring 1981, pp. 176–187. Reprinted in French. Les Cahiers de la Recherche Architecturale, November 1982, pp. 66–73.
- "The Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureates." Zodiac 12. Includes "The World's Greatest Architect." by Francesco Dal Co; "Statement on Architecture." by Richard Meier. Editrice Abitare: Milan, 1995.
External links
- Historic New Harmony, administered by the University of Southern IndianaUniversity of Southern IndianaThe University of Southern Indiana is a public university in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. This publicly funded institution has been among the fastest growingcomprehensive state universities in Indiana. Record fall enrollment in 2010 reached 10,702...
and the Indiana State MuseumIndiana State MuseumThe Indiana State Museum is a museum located within White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The museum houses exhibits on the history of Indiana from prehistoric times up to the present day. It has one of the four IMAX theaters in the state of Indiana.-History:The museum was started...
and Historic Sites. - Equitable Commerce by Josiah Warren The individualist anarchist who participated in the New Harmony project discusses the reasons for its failure
- Account of the Harmony Society and its beliefs
- New Harmony Scientists, Educators, Writers & Artists