Fruitlands | |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Fruit_lands_Alcott_house,_2015_2.jpg) Farmhouse at Fruitlands (photographed in 2015) | |
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| Location | Harvard, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°30′34″N 71°36′45″W / 42.50944°N 71.61250°W |
| Built | 1843 |
| NRHP reference No. | 74001761[1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 19, 1974 |
Fruitlands was a utopian agrarian commune established in Harvard, Massachusetts, by Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane in the 1840s and based on transcendentalist principles. An account of its less-than-successful activities can be found in Transcendental Wild Oats by Alcott's daughter Louisa May Alcott.[2]
Lane purchased what was known as the Wyman farm and its 90 acres (36 ha), which also included a dilapidated house and barn. Residents of Fruitlands ate no animal substances, drank only water, bathed in unheated water, and "no artificial light would prolong dark hours or cost them the brightness of morning."[3] Additionally, property was held communally, and no animal labor was used.
The community lasted only seven months. It was dependent on farming, which turned out to be too difficult. The original farmhouse is now a part of Fruitlands Museum, along with other historic buildings from the area.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ Francis 2010, pp. 250–.
- ^ McFarland 2004, p. 81.