In the spring of 1845 a man by the name of Rev. John Randolph Hibbard set out to create a New Church Utopia. He called this endeavor 'Fourier Phalanx.' Between 1883 and 1865 he had written several articles about his ideas. This community was to be started on Hibbard's own farm.
To begin with the whole community, which included several families, was to live in the same building. The first part of his building was spacious two story log house. Attached to this was a long one-story thing. Coming out from both sides of this thing were small one or two rooms shafts for the various families.
The farm was organized Communist style, with a fair division of labor between the adults. Some of the men would work out in the fields, while others made and baked bricks. The women divided amongst themselves the sewing, cleaning, and cooking. Mrs. Hibbard took charge of the children for at least a few hours each day for instructional purposes. Because of this community was made up of families there were many children that needed looking after.
Unfortunately, this endeavor did not last long. Early in the season they suffered to miss fortunes. The first was their kiln burnt, causing a halt in the construction of bricks. The second death of their leader Mr. Hibbard. Soon everyone had lost their morale, so they decided to pack up to go home. The bricks were sold to pay investors and the rest of the property was divided up fairly. And so the first attempt at a purely New Church community failed rather miserably.