In they arrived in Iowa. Amana means to remain true. The village of Homestead was added in , giving the Colonies access to the railroad. In , the Ebenezer Society back in New York was finally liquidated and the last members from Ebenezer were able to make the removal to Iowa. In the seven villages, residents received a home, medical care, meals, all household necessities and schooling for their children. Property and resources were shared. Men and women were assigned jobs by their village council of brethren.
No one received a wage. No one needed one. The production of wool and calico supported the community. Everything from clock making to brewing, were vital and well-crafted products became a hallmark of the Amanas. Craftsmen took special pride in their work as a testament of both their faith and their community spirit.
The Amana villages became well known for their high quality goods. The routine of the life in old Amana was paced very differently than today. Amana prayer meeting houses, located in the center of each village, built of brick or stone, have no stained glass windows, no steeple or spire, and reflect the ethos of simplicity and humility.
Inspirationists attended worship services 11 times a week; their quiet worship punctuating the days. Over 50 communal kitchens provided three meals daily to Colonists. Rising costs and several years of drought aggravated the conditions on the estates, causing Metz and other leaders to realize that they must seek a new home for the community.
In September a committee led by Christian Metz traveled to America in search of land on which to relocate the Community of True Inspiration. From the start, in order to facilitate all members of the community to come to America and live together, all property in Ebenezer was held in common.
The initial plan was that after some time, the land would be divided among the people according to their contribution of money and labor. However, leaders saw that the disparity in wealth, skills and age would make it difficult for all to purchase a portion of land and the community would fall apart as a result.
Therefore; in , a constitution was adopted which established a permanent communal system. Any debate on this was resolved when Metz spoke a divine pronouncement endorsing the communal system. Ebenezer flourished. By the population reached 1, people.
Six villages were established, each with mills, shops, homes, communal kitchens, schools, and churches. To accommodate this growth, additional land was purchased, but, more was needed.
However, the booming growth of nearby Buffalo put land prices at a premium. In addition, the community leaders perceived a threat from the economic development around them. It was felt that capitalist and worldly influences were bringing about a growing interest in materialism and threatened the spiritual focus of the Inspirationist community.
The leadership decided it was time to move the community again — this time to the unsettled west. After investigating sites in Kansas and Iowa , the True Inspirationists selected a location along the Iowa River Valley about 20 miles west of Iowa City, Iowa for the relocation of their community. This site offered extensive timberland, quarries for limestone and sandstone, and long stretches of prairie filled with rich, black soil.
A new constitution was adopted as the Community of True Inspiration took on the legal identity of the Amana Society. This new constitution essentially retained the communal system which had been developed in Ebenezer. All members of the community shared in its economic success. The community provided each family with a home and all necessities of life.
No one received a cash income. Rather, everyone was given an annual purchase allowance at the general store where goods were priced at cost. Medical care was provided free by the community.
In return, each person was expected to work and was assigned a job by the community Elders based on the needs of the community, as well as the talents of the individual. Nearly all women, starting at about age 14, worked in the communal kitchens and gardens. Women also tended to laundry, sewing, and knitting and a few worked at the woolen mills. Young men might learn to work in one of the many craft shops, in the mills, or on the farms. Some men were sent outside the community to be educated as doctors or pharmacists.
By the s the Amana Colony, as it came to be known, consisted of over 20, acres of land on which seven villages had been established.
The villages were spaced just a few miles apart, roughly in the shape of a rectangle, and were named according to their location: West Amana, South Amana, High Amana, East Amana, and Middle Amana, in addition to the original village of Amana. The town of Homestead, little more than a few buildings, was purchased by the Inspirationists so that they could have a depot on the new railroad line.
Amana villages each consisted of 40 to buildings. The barns and agricultural buildings were always clustered at the village edge. Orchards, vineyards, and gardens encircled the villages. Typical houses were rectangular two-story buildings of wood post-and-beam construction, brick, or sandstone. Each village had its own church, school, bakery, dairy, wine cellar, craft shops, and general store.
There were also a number of communal kitchens in each village where groups of about people ate their meals. Although all Amana villages are similar, each has its distinctive aspects. The original village of Amana, for example, is reminiscent of a German town with its meandering main street and side streets.
On the other hand, the last village built — Middle Amana — displays a very American square block layout. South Amana is known for its predominance of brick construction—boasting even a brick granary and chicken house; in West Amana and High Amana, sandstone buildings prevail. Tiny East Amana was not much more than an agricultural outpost, while Amana hummed with industry. The Amana settlement pattern of seven villages allowed the Inspirationists to easily access all their farmland.
Just as importantly, it avoided a large urban setting which they felt encouraged immorality. Still, the network of small villages maintained an overall unity and kept everyone close to spiritual leadership.
The Inspirationists established mills and shops according to their old-world skills. The Inspirationists did not avoid the use of new technologies and, in fact, are known to have contributed innovations of their own to the textile industry.
They also have antiques, gifts, jewelry, fudge and a little corner where you can get a piece of pie should you be with someone not as enthralled with quilting as you! This is a new event and becoming quite popular. At South Amana , you make a turn north and head a few miles to West Amana. Joanna Schanz is a basket weaver and teaches willow weaving to people from across the country. A broom maker comes several days a week to demonstrate his craft.
I never knew there were so many specialty brooms, but these are the best! Be sure to have your picture taken here! High Amana is located just two miles east of West Amana. The High Amana General Store is really a museum and a general store in one. Stepping inside takes you back to the s when it was established and very little has changed.
They carry handmade soaps, housewares, hard-to-find items, books, toys and gifts. The Arts Guild also offers a series of intensive weeklong and weekend Art Iowa Workshops for college graduate credit or just for personal enrichment. The guild also sponsors several summer events; The Festival of the Arts and Woodfest.
A few more miles down the road and you are in Middle Amana. They still make Amana Refrigerators and hire around 4, people right here in this tiny rural area.
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