Crumbling adobe once housed thriving socialistic colony
Alternative Title
Valley Times Photo Collection
Creator
Brich, George
Contributor
This project was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian Made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation and Photo Friends
In 1914 minister Job Harriman, McCorkle and others, formed a self-sufficient community founded upon socialist principles. They called it Llano del Rio. The group purchased a 2,000-acre parcel of land, including water rights, in California's Antelope Valley, which the group named Llano del Rio. Eventually, surrounding landowners began to complain about the colony's water consumption. Personal disagreements, lawsuits and economic difficulties also contributed to the demise of the colony. 1918, a group of colonists relocated to Louisiana. A few remains still stand today. Photograph caption dated April 6, 1962 reads "Antelope Valley desert creeps steadily over $1 million ruins." The article partially reads "In Glendale, 91-year-old Gentry Purviance McCorkle is preparing to publish his autobiography, in which he tells how he watched the million-dollar experiment go from boom to bust in five years. At its peak, there were some 1,500 members and 200 houses in the colony, McCorkle said. But many had been admitted for less than the required $2,000 fee, bringing on financial difficulty, he said." McCorkle claimed that when he suggested building a church, the board of directors grew silent due to their atheism. He then left the colony.; See images #00131284 through #00131287 for all photos in this series.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 21 cm. Photographic prints
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