A wide range of utopian intentional communities were founded across US since the 1800s. Several of them are active in the present day.
Harmonites dominated in the early 1800s.
Secular utopian socialism in the US during the 19th century included adherents of Owenism of the 1820s, Fourierism (American Union of Associationists) (1843–1850), Icarianism (1848–1898), and Bellamyism of the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth (1889–1896), based on Edward Bellamy's 1888 book Looking Backward and his 1893 plan for self-sufficient agricultural settlements.
As well, several anarchist communities were established in the U.S. These included Home, Washington (founded in 1898) and the Socialist Community of Modern Times, founded in New York in 1851.
Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
Name Location Founder Founding date Ending date NotesProvince of Carolina (British Colony of Carolina)Carolina16701711-1729Chartered as a restoration colony, it was planned as a utopian society with an integrated physical, economic and social design. Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, with the assistance of his secretary, the philosopher John Locke, drafted the Grand Model for the Province of Carolina, Carolina's constitution, which was influenced by the utopian aspirations of James Harrington. Settlers were promised religious freedom and free land. Unrest led to Cary's rebellion in 1711. Became a royal colony in 1729. Province of Pennsylvania (British colony of Pennsylvania)PennsylvaniaWilliam Penn1681Chartered as a restoration colony. Inspired by the writings of James Harrington. Planned as a utopian society with an integrated physical, economic and social designEphrata Cloister AKA Ephrata Community Lancaster County, PennsylvaniaJohann Conrad Beissel17321934Founded as a monastic religious community. Restructured as a both-gender community in 1814. Branches were established at other locations, of which two are said to still exist today.Province of Georgia (British colony of Georgia)GeorgiaGeneral James Oglethorpe1733Inspired by writings of James Harrington. Oglethorpe planned the colony to be a utopian society with an integrated physical, economic and social design. Liquor and slavery were prohibited. "Agrarian equality" in which land was allocated equally. Acquisition of land through purchase or inheritance was prohibited. The plan was an early step toward the yeoman republic later envisioned by Thomas Jefferson. Prohibitions against liquor, slavery and private land ownership were lifted in 1749 and 1751, fundamentally ending Georgia's utopian experiment.
Nineteenth century