New Llano, Louisiana was founded in 1917 by Job Harriman, a former U.S. Vice-Presidential candidate from California. It lasted more than 20 years and is considered America’s most successful socialist Utopia.
The New Llano Colony was founded as a socialist colony. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the industrial revolution caused many men to become employees of big business and they were often treated unfairly. It happened right here, in west central Louisiana with the lumber barons.
So when Job Harriman bought the cut-over lands of Stables and moved his co-operative colony here, they were accepted. The colonists published newspapers and advertised both the colony and for better working conditions throughout the country.
To become a member of the colony, you had to purchase stock in the company for all members of the family. Arrangements could be made to “pay as you go”, although members who had not paid their admission fees were not allowed to vote for several years. Once you were accepted, you were expected to work an eight-hour day for six days a week. In return, you were provided with a home, food, education, medical care and a variety of entertainments.
For nearly twenty years, the colony did well. But in the end, many factors worked together to cause the demise of America's longest lived Utopian Society.
