Seeking Utopia in Louisiana - The lost story of a group of socialists who built an extraordinary, but flawed, colony

this is a fun little historical story. there have probably been a lot of small historical oddities like new llano that have just been lost to time--new llano just happens to be one which was not, and which was also surprisingly successful despite a large number of setbacks and its tiny size.

A socialist project wasn’t supposed to end like this, but no forces of history could have conceived it starting like this, either: a newspaper office bombing, a vice presidential candidate, and the wilds of Louisiana coming together to produce America’s longest-lived, non-religious utopian experiment. Three decades after one man’s dream saw some 10,000 people create a collectivist reality, what had held it together eventually brought it all undone. But was the settlement of New Llano really a failure?

Those early adopters of life in Newllano had their faith severely tested. The realtor who arranged the sale of land had guaranteed that 115 Texans would join the project, bringing much-needed livestock as payment. But the Texans were not told about the lifestyle and politics of the group, and they soon clashed with the Californians.
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The Texans promptly left, but not before eating what little food there was, taking their livestock, and leaving the Californians to pull plows in the fields for themselves. Those who could afford to or who could find jobs—the war industry was booming—went back to California, no longer wishing to sustain the others.
Those who remained were welcomed by their new neighbors, with the area’s conservative sensibilities the only sticking point. Newspapers in the neighboring town of Leesville were more worried about the colonists practicing free love than socialism, as many of the colonists were divorcees and single parents, or had applied for divorces when they reached Newllano.

The settlement began to thrive. New arrivals didn’t have to be socialists—some openly stated that they were not. They only needed to buy shares and agree to the rules. Colonists could keep their personal property both inside and outside of the settlement. They were given a house with water and electricity, access to three meals a day at the hotel, or food to cook at home if they preferred, free healthcare and education, and even a full laundry service. Money was rarely used between members. “It was such a friendly care free world to live in after the bread and butter struggle of Los Angeles,” said colonist Viola Gilbert.