Atheneum/Visitors Center
New Harmony's Atheneum is the visitor center for New Harmony, Indiana. It is named for the Greek Athenaion, which was a temple dedicated to Athena in ancient Greece.[1] Funded by the Indianapolis Lilly Endowment in 1976, with the help of the Krannert Charitable Trust, it was opened on October 10, 1979. The architect was Richard Meier, whose other works include the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California. When it opened in 1979 it won a Progressive Architecture Award, and in 1982 won an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Award. Source
See images from its construction, dedication, and more, IMAGES
Roofless Church
The Roofless Church in New Harmony, Indiana, is an open air interdenominational church designed by Philip Johnson and dedicated in 1960. The church was commissioned by Jane Blaffer Owen, the wife of a descendant of Robert Owen. (Source)
See images of its construction, dedication, and more, IMAGES
Rapp-Owen Granary
Built in 1818, this was one of the largest of the granaries constructed by the Harmonists. Originally it had five floors with the first three being tiles. The lower walls are 4-feet thick with 6 large port holes that facilitated the drying and storing of grains. Once rumored to be a fortress for protection against Native American or unfriendly neighbors this is unlikely to be a use for the structure. (Source: Historic New Harmony by Nora Fretageot.) This building houses a seismometer to monitor earthquakes.
New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art
New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art was founded in 1975 as part of philanthropist Jane Blaffer Owen’s revitalization project of the town. In 1985, University of Southern Indiana assumed management of New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art as part of Historic New Harmony, encouraging cultural and educational programs. (Source)
Working Men's Institute
Established by philanthropist William Maclure in 1838, the Working Men’s Institute (WMI) set as its mission the dissemination of useful knowledge to those who work with their hands. After 170 years of continuous service, this goal is still at the heart of our mission.
Maclure, who was a business partner with Robert Owen in the communal experiment in New Harmony from 1825-1827, was devoted to the ideal of education for the common man as a means of positive change in society. At New Harmony, The Working Men’s Institute was one manifestation of this ideal.
The Working Men’s Institute in New Harmony was the first of 144 WMIs in Indiana and 16 in Illinois. It is the only one remaining. Many WMIs were absorbed by township libraries or Carnegie libraries. Yet the one in New Harmony remained.
Today, the WMI is a public library, a museum and an archive. In each of these areas, the WMI tries to stay true to the original mission of William Maclure. (Source)
Thrall's Opera House
Thrall’s Opera House was built by the Harmonists as the fourth communal building to house members of the community who did not have families. Finished in 1824, it was the final building built before the Harmonists left to establish Economy. The building was also used as housing during the Owen period with as many as sixteen families living there. Since then, it has been many things including stores, a school, a theatre, and even a garage.
In 1856 the building was purchased by the Thespian Society, who then remodeled the building and named it Union Hall. During this time performances by the society, The Golden family, and various touring companies took place. The Golden Family was known as the Golden Troupe. In 1888 Eugene S. Thrall bought out his partners to become the sole owner, renaming the building Thrall’s Opera House, and beginning renovations once again. Unfortunately, Thrall died only a year later and did not see his vision come to fruition. His widow continued the renovation and finished in his honor.
From 1926-1964 the building was used as a garage. Ed Garrett purchased the building and operated the garage and Conoco gas station. The garage was even used for parking during WWII. Cars of service men were stored until they returned from serving overseas.
By 1964, the Harmonie Associates persuaded the Indiana Department of Resources to purchase the building and maintain it as a historic site and the building was restored to its 1888 appearance. The Opera House is now maintained by the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites and used for historic tours and special events.(Source: Historic New Harmony)
Tillich Park
Tillich Park was dedicated in 1963 and named for the Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich. He was present at the dedication and gave an address entitled “Estranged and Reunited: The New Being.” Upon his death in 1966, his ashes were interred in the park and in 1967 a bronze sculpture of Tillich by James Rosati was added. The park consists of pine trees with paths dotted with granite stones. On all the stones but one, the stone where his ashes are placed, engravings of Tillich’s well-known statements are carved.
Harmony Way Bridge
The Harmony Way Bridge was built in 1930 and was an important artery for commerce, traffic and connection to Southern Illinois. The bridge closed in 2012 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Community members from Indiana and Illinois have partnered under a volunteer management structure, Harmony Way Bridge Project, to restore and re-purpose the bridge.
Schnee-Ribeyre-Elliott House
The Schnee-Ribeyre-Elliott House was built in 1867 by David Schnee who lived in the house with his wife and four children. Schnee was a saddle and harness maker who earned money outfitting soldiers for the War Between the States. In 1879, the house was sold to Captain Alfred Ribeyre. Ribeyre who was a large-scale farmer was known locally as the “Corn King.” Between 1895-1898, renovations were done to the house, adding rooms and putting on the “steamboat Gothic” front porch. Former President William Taft visited the residence for tea during New Harmony’s Centennial Celebration in 1914. In 1925 the house was sold to Elmer Elliott who lived in the house with his wife, their 2 daughters were already grown. His wife passed in 1941 and his daughter Helen moved home in 1947 to assist him. Elliott celebrated his 100th birthday in August 1965 and died in September. Helen Elliott lived in the house until her death in 1982 at which time she left the house and some furnishings to Historic New Harmony, Inc. In March 2006, the house because the offices of University of Southern Indiana’s Historic New Harmony
Community House No. 2
Finished in 1822, Community House No. 2 was one of four dormitories built to house single members of the Harmony Society. The first floor was used as a communal space, including a dining hall and winter kitchen, while the upper floors contained rooms for the residents. Additionally, the home to the left of the building, now known as the Mother Superior House, was transformed into a summer kitchen for the residents of the dormitory.
In 1825, when Owen and Maclure purchased the town of New Harmony, the building was transformed and used as a school modeled on the Pestalozzian method of teaching. Between 1831 and 1940, the building was home to a variety of businesses including a hotel, tea room, cigar factory, and a hardware store. Finally, in 1940 the building was purchased by the state of Indiana to be maintained as a historic site. Today Community House No. 2 is maintained by the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, while the Mother Superior House is owned by the Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation.
Dutch Biscuits were insulator bricks used in many Harmonists buildings. These bricks acted as insulators for cold and warmth. (Source: Historic New Harmony)
Lenz House & Gardens
The David Lenz house was built circa 1819-1822 by the Harmonists and was occupied by the Lenz family. The Lenz family immigrated to America from Germany in 1804 and signed the contract to join the Harmony Society in Harmony, Pennsylvania in 1905. This house is a typical Harmonist single-family frame dwelling. Houses, like the Lenz, were frame houses built mainly with square timber logs of poplar or oak. The spaces between the logs were chinked with wood shims and a clay grouting mix of straw and river shells. Roofs were framed with rafters and mortised and tenoned at the peak.
Today the house and garden is owned by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the state of Indiana. (Source)
Cathedral Labyrinth
Built and maintained by the Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation, this outdoor site offers an opportunity to walk and meditate on an ancient single path labyrinth. The pattern of this labyrinth duplicates the original at Chartres Cathedral, built in the 12th century near Paris, France. The Medieval Gothic Cathedrals across Europe often had labyrinths built into their floors. Their geometric pattern related to the unity of each cathedral’s design. The rose in the middle of the New Harmony cathedral labyrinth identifies its Chartres origin. Labyrinth designs have been used by humankind for over 4000 years in many cultural traditions, including Southwest Native Americans. (Source)
Lichtenberger Building
Built in 1845, and remodeled in both 1870 and 1901, this building was home to the W.F. Lichtenberger store. Now the Maximilian-Bodmer exhibit fills the first floor.
In 1832, Alexander Philip Maximilian, Prince of Weid, began an expedition to explore natural history and the native population of North America. Accompanying Maximilian was Karl Bodmer, a Swiss artist. Bodmer documented the trip with sketches and paintings and assisted with the scientific collecting. In October of that year the group arrived in New Harmony with a plan to stay for only a few days. Due to a serious illness, the group ended up staying the entire winter, continuing their expedition that spring.
The exhibit contains 81 prints produced by Bodmer, originally bound in two volumes to accompany Maximillian's account of the expedition. Each print has a brief description and is separated into chronological groups, each with a map.
Native American Burial Mounds/Harmonists Cemetery
The Harmonists established the cemetery at the beginning of their settlement in New Harmony as the resting place for over 200 members who died due to the harsh conditions of their new frontier life. No headstones mark the graves of these early settlers because the society believed in the equality of all members in both life and death. The red brick wall surrounding the cemetery, while not original, was built in 1874 of bricks rescued from the old Harmonist brick church. Also in the cemetery are several Native American mounds dating from the Middle Woodland Period, over two thousand years ago. These mounds were investigated by the Harmonists, and, during the Owen-Maclure period, by the artist and naturalist Charles Alexandre-Lesueur. This site is included in Historic New Harmony’s guided walking tour but is a free site open to visit on your own as well. (Source)