The Land of the Free
In West-Central Louisiana, New Llano outlived other utopian socialist communities
Great successes and catastrophes all begin the same way: with a big idea.
In 1917, two hundred settlers from California chartered a train to the abandoned mill town of Stables, Louisiana, where they were now the proud owners of approximately 20,000 acres of land in the heart of Vernon Parish. They hoped that in the former timber land of Western Louisiana they’d find a more favorable environment for the kind of model community they were trying to build.
The colonists were socialists, but their efforts were distinguished from the more confrontational movements of labor unions and political organizers. Rather, they thought that building self-sustaining model communities, based on principles of social and economic equality, would demonstrate the appeal of their ideas to the masses. They were referred to, somewhat derisively, by more strident socialists as “utopian socialists” for their idealistic approach.
Around this time, model socialist communities were being established in states across the country, but most were short-lived. Washington’s Equality Colony was founded in 1897 but only lasted for a few years. The Ruskin Colony of Tennessee (which moved to Georgia after five years) only made it six years before dissolving.
The group from California had created their own model socialist community three years earlier; they called it “Llano (‘YAN-oh’) del Rio Cooperative Colony.” The community was initially a success, with thousands of idealists arriving in search of a better life. Many were skilled workers wanting to build a better society for all. The group’s founder, Job Harriman, was a prominent lawyer who had served as Eugene Debs’s running mate on the Socialist Party ticket in the presidential election of 1900. Following failed runs for mayor of Los Angeles and governor of California, a discouraged Harriman had established the Llano Colony as an alternative path for demonstrating the practical appeal of his socialist ideas.
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Before long though, Harriman’s outspoken political views had attracted powerful opposition, including Harrison Gray Otis, the influential conservative owner of the Los Angeles Times. In a court battle with neighboring landowners the colony lost its water rights. With obstacles and enemies seemingly on all sides, Harriman decided to lead a group of colonists on a journey to start over somewhere more promising.
They purchased a large tract of land in west-central Louisiana and christened it “Newllano,” later “New Llano” (pronounced “LAN-oh”). According to Beverly Lewis and Rick Blackwood’s documentary American Utopia (1994), when the colonists arrived, they found “a played-out lumber mill town that the Gulf Lumber Company wanted to sell called Stables.” In a 2017 podcast produced by the Museum of the New Llano Colony, the property was described as having “27 good habitable houses, along with 100 cheap houses, and 18-room hotel in fairly good condition; a store, office and concrete power house” along with a number of old sheds and an abandoned railroad which they later dismantled to build new structures.
You might imagine that the arrival of hundreds of Californian socialists would have made conservative locals uneasy, but in fact Vernon Parish in those days was a hub for pro-union activity thanks to the hardball, exploitative labor practices of the lumber mills that dominated and then abandoned local economies during this time.
Even with these buildings, the early years in the colony were tough, with no plumbing, little food, and almost no money. Some colonists gave up and returned to California or left in search of work elsewhere. But in time the colony stabilized, attracting new members and developing new industries. At its height, the New Llano colony is estimated to have contained between eight hundred and a thousand members. Some scholars believe as many as 10,000 people passed through New Llano over the years, though despite the community’s many progressive ideals and achievements, the population never did welcome African American or Asian colonists into its fold.
Harriman, whose idealistic vision created the colony, was forced to return to California when his health declined. Colonist George Pickett took his place as general manager and president, a position he would hold for most of the colony’s remaining existence. Pickett, a former salesman, oversaw a period of growth for New Llano, touring the country to promote the colony and working to grow its many collective business enterprises and extend trading with the colony’s neighbors.
You might imagine that the arrival of hundreds of Californian socialists would have made conservative locals uneasy, but in fact Vernon Parish in those days was a hub for pro-union activity thanks to the hardball, exploitative labor practices of the lumber mills that dominated and then abandoned local economies during this time. Many had actually voted for the Debs/Harriman Socialist ticket in the 1900 presidential election; DeRidder had elected a socialist mayor in 1912.
Even those neighboring residents who didn’t necessarily share the group’s political views found them to be ideal neighbors. In American Utopia, Leesville resident Henry Koury told interviewers that “most people, we didn’t know much about socialism, communism, things like that. But our relations with New Llano was very good. Real good. We traded a lot with New Llano. ... And New Llano had they own cannery. If you butchered a beef and you wanted it canned, you could take it there ... they’d can it, and they took they share of it and gave you the rest.”
And so the colony not only coexisted with, but thrived alongside their neighbors in west Louisiana. Many colonists were highly skilled and had valuable expertise in farming and other industries that helped to improve the local community. In addition to the facilities colonists had already constructed for their own use, like a saw mill, nursing home and filling station, they also built Vernon Parish’s first public library, which was open to all for a $1 lifetime membership.
New Llano was the first town in Vernon Parish to have electricity. Colonists built the state’s first artesian ice plant, a facility that used water from local artesian springs to create “artificial” ice blocks (as opposed to the more expensive “natural” ice blocks imported south to the region’s urban areas). Skilled tradespeople in New Llano also created metalwork used by the Kansas City Southern Railroad and turned out fine woodwork from the colony’s veneer plant. People came from as far away as Texas to buy the reasonably priced, well-made goods.
Ultimately New Llano developed about sixty different industries which both supplied the community and brought in income, through cash or trade, and all profits went to the colony, which members had shares in. They produced everything from peanut butter to paint and fertilizer; they operated bakeries and print shops, a hotel, and a general store.
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Members of New Llano were free to worship (or not) however they wanted to. They were not required to be socialists or to give up their personal possessions. They could leave the colony for work or personal reasons and return later. As long as they bought shares and were willing to work, colonists were provided with a home, three square meals a day (or the ingredients to prepare them), free healthcare, and free education. At a time when child labor was still common in urban areas, colony children spent four hours a day in school, followed by four hours of hands-on skill-building. New Llano was one of the first places in America to adopt the Montessori teaching method. In the documentary, colonist Earl Swensen recalled that the children “were told by most of our teachers that learning things was of little importance unless you knew how to think”.
No one lived in luxury, but no one went hungry or uncared for either. The community had a strong social life and placed a high priority on education, self-improvement and cultural pursuits. Evening entertainment included dances, concerts, magic shows and theatrical performances. Of course, these attractions were offered for free and were open to the public.
In American Utopia, resident Martha Palmer recalled that every child was taught to play an instrument, and encouraged to dance and participate in plays. Another colonist, Marguerite Ashy, said that being together all day during work, meals, and even activities made it feel like being a part of one big family.
Women especially had benefited from the ability to learn trades and develop greater financial independence. They also could take up to six months off work following the birth of a child, and child care was provided for all families during the workday.
Pickett worked to raise the profile of the colony through speaking tours, public performances, and socialist newspapers with national readership. The late 1920s were some of New Llano’s best years, and Pickett sought to continue that growth by expanding into several satellite colonies and purchasing agricultural businesses in Louisiana and Texas. But when the Great Depression hit, investments became liabilities, and the colony struggled to accommodate the influx of poor and destitute people who arrived looking for help. Dissension grew as long-time colonists resented Pickett’s generosity with these new arrivals, many of whom could not pay for membership.
For many years, Pickett had run the colony more or less as a benevolent dictator. Despite a façade of democratic governance, in reality Pickett’s authority went largely unchecked. This leadership style had most likely saved the colony from the excess of democracy in decision-making that had plagued the colony’s early years under Harriman. But at the height of the colony’s financial difficulties, while Pickett was out on one of his promotional tours, a number of colonists—many former allies of his—staged a coup and elected a new group of leaders.
“I took sides with the part that was dissatisfied with the way that it was run,” recalled colonist Bill Brough in American Utopia. “So we more or less overthrowed the ones in power and took over.”
Pickett appealed to Vernon Parish authorities to restore him to power, but before long, the new leadership had also mismanaged colony finances. Lawyers got involved, leading the colony to declare bankruptcy. The colony’s assets were placed into receivership, a legal status intended to protect the assets’ value until a final resolution of debts is reached. But, ultimately, according to historian John R. Tarver, quoted in American Utopia, New Llano “was a corporation, but it didn’t maintain the traditional corporate structure. It didn’t do a lot of things that normally a corporation would do, like keep track of their stockholders. And at one point the courts just threw up their hands. ‘We can’t make anything out of this. We don’t even know who owns it.’”
According to documentary interviews, in 1939 a court appointed receiver sold “the colony plus over seventy industrial buildings and their contents, including the print shop, sheet metal factory, theater, blacksmith shop, filling station, hospital, library, and hotel all for $6,600.” Angry former colony members filed lawsuits, alleging that the sale grossly undervalued their (co-owned) assets. The court cases persisted for nearly forty years.
The colony of New Llano remains arguably the longest-lived socialist utopian colony in the country, surviving from its founding in California in 1914 to its ultimate dismantling by the court in 1939. Today, New Llano is a small town of about 2,400 not far from Fort Polk. Only a few of the colony’s original buildings remain standing, but The Museum of the New Llano Colony was established in 2013 to preserve the history of this largely forgotten social experiment. Located in the back of the Old City Hall building, the museum (which hopes to expand) consists of a single room with many photographs, records, and archives from the colony.
New Llano is not a household name, even in Louisiana, but during its twenty-plus years in Vernon Parish, the colony enacted progressive policies that were decades ahead of the country at large. Women especially had benefited from the ability to learn trades and develop greater financial independence. They also could take up to six months off work following the birth of a child, and child care was provided for all families during the workday. Seniors who were no longer able to work were cared for by the community.
Colonist Sarah Shuldiner is proud of that legacy. “I know how we got social security! We were considered Russian Bolsheviks, you know, our shirts were outside of our pants with a belt on. If we made such a suggestion that you have social security ... it’s very hard for people to believe this today because they take it for granted. But I can assure you that that was hard-won.”
The Museum of the
New Llano Colony
211 Stanton Street
New Llano, La.