Walk the streets here, and you feel suspended in a moment almost 200 years old. Golden rain trees and flowering magnolias tower over centuries-old homes. Gateways open onto peaceful gardens with splashing fountains and benches inviting rest and contemplation. Labyrinths, based on the sacred geometry of the medieval Chartres Cathedral in France, offer meditation and peace.
New Harmony, a tiny town of less than 1,000 on the Wabash River in the southwestern corner of Indiana, was founded in 1814 –and time has been kind. The National Trust for Historic Preservation placed it on the 2003 list of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations, describing it as a southern Indiana jewel.
The town itself is proof that the ideas of communes were alive before the 1960s, for it was here that not one but two were established in the early 1800s, and the ideals of both communities–hard work and intellectual stimulation–are still celebrated by those who live here.
Because New Harmony is small, it is easy to wander brick sidewalks past architecture distinctive not only for its age but also because of the town’s commitment to a creative vision. It was here that James Renwick, who designed the Smithsonian Institution’s “Castle” in Washington, D.C., left his mark, creating a laboratory for David Owen, son of Robert Owen, a Welsh-born industrialist and social philosopher, who purchased the town in 1824
But though it is historical, the town isn’t mired in history. Richard Meier, a well-known New York-based architect whose design for a new World Trade Center was one of those considered, planned the Atheneum, a modernistic white structure of jutting angles, squares and triangles that serves as the visitor center.
Another New York-based architect, Philip Johnson, created the interdenominational Roofless Church–a large walled expanse of lawn and gardens. Here, amidst flowers and fountains, is a shake-shingled pagoda, interpreted as a rose by Christians and a lotus by visitors from the East, and a statue titled “The Descent of the Holy Spirit.”
It is this juxtaposition–history with modernity–that sums up how New Harmony came to be.
In 1814, George Rapp bought 20,000 acres of land to found “Harmonie on the Wabash.” Rapp was a member of the Harmony Society, a group that had separated from the German Lutheran Church and came from Wurttemberg, Germany, first to Pennsylvania and then to the lower Wabash Valley to establish a commune dedicated to the Swabian work ethic of work-and-save combined with the Benedictine rule of pray-and-work. Though the commune was successful (during its heyday such dignitaries as Lord Byron and Duke Bernhard of Weimar would visit and extol its wonders), the Harmony Society sold the commune in 1824 to Robert Owen, also a commune enthusiast.
The Harmony Society moved on to form another town, this one in Pennsylvania, called Economy. That society would eventually, according to Susan Branigin, historic preservation coordinator for Historic New Harmony, fade away (though it, too, is now a National Historic Landmark filled with restored structures from the early 1800s).
Robert Owen, who founded the second commune, had a different Utopian dream. His was one of a perfect society achieved by free education as well as the elimination of social classes and personal wealth. It was also an idealized society based upon education and knowledge. This equal society continued even after death. In one cemetery, there are no monuments or markers. And coffins were always plain wooden boxes painted black.
In keeping with Owen’s vision, William Maclure, a wealthy industrialist and business partner of Owen, established The Working Men’s Institute in 1838 in New Harmony to provide both library and learning experiences for the working man. Eventually 144 Working Men’s Institutes were built throughout Indiana, though now the only one remaining is here, housing the state’s oldest continuously operating public lending library.
The institute harbors a small upstairs museum filled with a wide assortment of exhibits from the curious (an eight legged calf born in the early 1900s) to the historic (an oval-shaped baby coffin, painted with pastoral scenes, brought along on a voyage to the U.S. by parents with a sickly daughter) to the scientific (a freshwater mussel shell collection). It also has an archive of old books, many from the 18th and 19th Centuries, and one dating to 1538.
“Maclure was interested in geology,” says Branigin. “And so he brought with him educators, artists and scientists. And through these people and their teachings and scientific activities, subsequent generations became interested in natural sciences and geology in this area.”
Indeed, according to Branigin, Owen’s son David became intrigued with geology and established a laboratory–the one built by Renwick. In the 30 years from 1830 to 1860, New Harmony was considered one of the most important training and research centers for geological studies.
Though Owen’s Utopian dream eventually came to an end, many of his descendants remained in the area and helped in the preservation of the town (there are, for example, no chain-operated stores or restaurants here).
There are eight Harmonist sites and 25 Harmonist buildings, many open for tours, some still privately owned. Costumed historic interpreters re-create life back then. “We have a lady who comes every year for Heritage Week and showcases scherenschnitte, the German craft of paper cutting–those intricate and very detailed paper cutting designs,” Branigin says. “We also have people doing the utilitarian crafts that were necessary to survival back then–shoemaking, spinning, bee keeping–as well as such crafts as embroidery and pottery.” In a small cottage, one interpreter shows how the Harmonists made rope and candles.
The Atheneum features a short movie about the two communes and how they changed the landscape of this rural region. The downtown consists of antique stores, art galleries, a small deli, two combo bookstore/garden shops as well as another garden (you’re never far from a garden in New Harmony)–this one centered around the arched entranceway of an old Harmonist building and a statue by sculptor Don Grummer, Meryl Streep’s husband.
The Main Cafe, its walls and ceilings covered with cream color pressed tin, has been in operation for more than 80 years and is the type of place where a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal totals $1.50. The Red Geranium Restaurant, located on North Street two blocks from the downtown, features both the nouveau (pecan-breaded chicken sauteed with apples and dates) and the traditional (Shaker lemon pie and chocolate vinegar cake).
After a weekend dinner, visitors can hire a horse-drawn carriage next door in front of the New Harmony Inn for a ride through town. Or they can enjoy a candlelight walk on a Saturday evening in the Cathedral Labyrinth, one block west of the Roofless Church.
For Jennifer Burks, who works at the visitor center, living here is part of a family tradition. A sophomore in high school, Burks lives in the same house that her great-grandfather once lived in.
“A lot of people in town have been here for generations,” says Burks. There’s just one school, with 300 students from pre-school through high school. “My brother is in 1st grade and I’m in 10th, and I see him in the halls quite often,” she says. “Our junior class has eight people in it. This is a town where everybody knows everybody, and that is very nice. It’s fun to be part of all this history.”
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE
New Harmony is about 280 miles from Chicago. Take Interstate Highways 80 or 90 to the Indiana suburbs, then U.S. Highway 41 to Indiana Highway 63 into Terre Haute. Reconnect with U.S. 41 on the southern edge of the town and follow it to Interstate Highway 64. Go west to Exit 4 at Griffin, Ind. From there, it’s 7 miles south on Indiana Highway 69. Trip time is about 5 1/2 hours.
LODGING AND DINING
The New Harmony Inn (800-782-8605; www.redg.com) is part of Historic New Harmony and was designed to replicate the community buildings where single men and women lived during the Harmonist years. Facilities include an enclosed pool, dining at both the Bayou Grill and the Red Geranium, and a fitness center and sauna. Room rates range from $74 to $94 (fireplace rooms $10 extra).
Red Geranium Enterprises, which runs the New Harmony Inn and the two restaurants on site, also offers five guesthouses for rent. These are historic homes, dating back to the mid-1800s, furnished in antiques; guests have access to the inn’s facilities, including pool. Call for rates.
ACTIVITIES
The remaining Cathedral Labyrinth candlelight walks this summer/fall are: July 12 (8-10 p.m.), Aug. 9 (8-10 p.m.), Sept. 13 (7-10 p.m.) and Oct. 11 (6-8 p.m.). They are free, and candles are provided on site.
INFORMATION
For more information about New Harmony, call 812-682-4474 or 800-231-2168; newharmony.org.
— J.A.
