Utopia in Oregon

Most of us have had a communal experience at some point in our lives: the house we shared with other young adults, the cooperative preschool we joined with our kids, the potluck dinner we organized for an evening of fellowship.

But few of us can imagine living our whole lives in a communal setting, pooling all our resources and striving to meet our own and others' needs.

But 170 years ago, communes were cutting-edge in the United States. Dozens of settlements pooled their spiritual, economic and physical resources and, sometimes, made names for themselves in the process: the Shakers, the Oneida Community in New York, Amana in Iowa. One community, the Aurora Colony, flourished in Oregon and is celebrating its 150th anniversary this summer.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the United States, with its wide-open spaces and liberal attitudes, welcomed communal experiments. Many poor Europeans, persecuted for their religious beliefs and filled with determination to live by their own ideals, came to the United States in search of Utopia -- a perfect society.

Once here, they were often bound by their native language and stymied because they didn't speak English. All they needed to undertake a communal experiment was a charismatic leader. And there were plenty of them in search of followers.

William Keil was such a man. Born in Prussia in 1812, he came to the United States at 25. He was a tailor and mystic who also saw himself as a physician. In Pennsylvania, he gathered a group of followers and, in 1844, founded Bethel Colony in Missouri.

They dedicated themselves to living out a literal understanding of a passage from the second chapter of the Book of Acts: "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need."

The Bethel settlers built their own homes, raised their own food and made their own furniture, clothing and music. They held fast to Keil's crystallization of the New Testament: "Love one another." Within 11 years, Bethel had grown to 650 residents who shared 4,700 acres of property. Keil, seeking to expand, sent 10 scouts out West in search of "The Second Eden."

By 1853, there wasn't much free land left in the Oregon Territory, says Patrick Harris, curator of the Old Aurora Colony Museum. But in 1855, Keil was able to buy 320 acres and a working mill on the banks of the Pudding River. He named the new colony for one of his daughters and the enterprise he hoped would generate income: Aurora Mills. The colony began with 40 settlers and peaked, in 1868, with about 600 people and 15,000 acres.

The colony thrived for 22 years. Colonists built a hotel, which became an anticipated stop on the stage and rail lines. Their "sausage and ham dinners" were famous. They opened a restaurant in Salem to serve Oregonians before, during and after the state fair. They made, for themselves and for paying customers, furniture, tinware, baskets, quilts, textiles, clothes, barrels, shoes and hats. They opened an apothecary and rented out the city park to folks from nearby towns. They assembled a popular brass band. They educated their own children, sending one young man to Harvard College in 1872 and paying his $400 tuition out of the common treasury.

The colony disbanded when Keil died in 1877. Colonists, with help from the courts, divided the shared land between themselves and went on with their lives, financially, if not socially, independent.

A century and a half later, remnants of Aurora's communal past endure. The mill still stands, as do the two-story general store; a handful of historic houses, a log cabin and a farm; pieces of wooden furniture made by communal craftsmen; a collection of musical instruments; and the occasional streak of "Aurora Blue" trim that one still finds inside the oldest white clapboard houses.

Karen Townsend moved to Aurora 25 years ago. She lives in a colony house and owns an antique store in another historic home. Like many longtime-but-still-new residents, she is fascinated with the history of her town and eager to share it with visitors.

She sees the original communal spirit living on in the group efforts that financed a new sewer system for the town and the cooperation it took to build a public restroom. She sees it in the community's efforts to create events -- like its 34th annual quilt show next October -- that bring tourists to Aurora. And she sees it in the museum's programs, which give children the chance to try candle-making, bread-baking and woodworking.

Her words recall an observation that a contemporary writer of the original colony made about it: "When vitally important change or experiment is contemplated, nothing is done without the general consent of the community," Charles Nordhoff wrote.

Townsend puts it this way: "When you're a small place, you need to work together to get these things done."

Nancy Haught: 503-294-7625; nancyhaught@news.oregonian.com