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Germantown
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Countess Leon's House at Germantown Colony
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| Location: | Off U.S. 79, Minden, Louisiana, USA |
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| Built: | 1836 |
| Governing body: | Local |
| NRHP Reference#: | 79001100[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | March 12, 1979 |
Germantown Colony and Museum is an historical preservation project north of Minden in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, USA. It was among three sites in Louisiana founded by former members of the Utopian Movement called the Harmony Society in the early 19th century.[2] The original colonists came from Germany, having first settled in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1803, then in New Harmony, Indiana in 1814, and finally in Economy (now Ambridge, Pennsylvania) in 1825.[2]
About 250 former members of the Harmony Society, many of whom left Economy, Pennsylvania during 1832, decided to leave because of disagreements over the society's custom of celibacy, and so they followed a man named Bernhard Müller, who called himself "Count de Leon". Their first settlement of the New Philadelphian Congregation, established by the New Philadelphia Society, was planted in 1832 in Phillipsburg (now Monaca), Pennsylvania. Perhaps because of ongoing litigation, and other financial problems, Müller's group decided to sell their communal land in Pennsylvania in 1833. Some community members stayed, while others followed Müller and his family down the Ohio River on a flatboat. Soon they started again at Grand Ecore, twelve miles north of Natchitoches, Louisiana. There Müller died and was interred in Natchitoches Parish. When the Count died, a congressman obtained passage of a bill donating a tract of land to the colonists and to Countess Leon, the Count's widow. The roots of the Germantown Colony were hence established.[3]
In 1835, the group, then led by Müller's widow, the Countess, settled seven miles (11 km) northeast of Minden in what was then Claiborne Parish.[4] For nearly four decades, the colony operated on a communal basis until it dispersed in 1871, when Webster Parish was created from Claiborne Parish.[5] The Countess then moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she died in 1881.[4]
One of three Utopian Society settlements in this area, the Germantown Colony, located off Louisiana Highway 531, was the most successful and lasted the longest, having peaked at fifty to sixty pioneers but usually with fewer than forty followers. The settlement had been planned by the Countess' husband, who died on August 29, 1834, of yellow fever[6] at Grand Ecore near Natchitoches, before he ever reached the intended Webster Parish.[2]
Leon and his followers attempted to build an earthly utopia, socialist in practice, while awaiting for the Second Coming of Christ. For his religious views, Leon had been exiled from Germany. He intended to plant the settlement in Webster Parish to coincide with the latitude of Jerusalem, 31 degrees, 47 minutes. The colonists worshiped under oak trees at the center of the colony. They supported themselves from farming, with a concentration on cotton.[4] There was also navigation nearby on the lower Dorcheat Bayou from Lake Bistineau to Minden.[7]
In 1973, descendants of the colonists, including Chester Phillip Krouse (1899–1981) and his sister, Ruby Florence Krouse (1906–2005),[8] donated an acre of land to the Webster Parish Police Jury, equivalent to county commission in other states. Three of the original buildings, the Countess’ cabin, the kitchen-dining hall, and the Dr. Goentgen cottage, survive at the site. The general store no longer exists. Replicas have been constructed of the smokehouse and the blacksmith shop. The buildings contain items used by the early settlers. There is also a sugar cane press outside. Some of the original wallpaper remains in the large room of the Countess’ cottage, paper which she had ordered from New Orleans to cover the rough walls. A refined woman, the Countess gave piano instruction to girls and young women in her cottage.[2]
The small Germantown Cemetery at the site holds the remains of many of the settlers. Tombstone information reveals that a number were born in Germany. In some cases, the cause of death is listed on the markers.[2]
The Germantown Museum opened on May 10, 1975, with former Governor Robert F. Kennon, a Minden native, in attendance. In 1979, the colony was placed on the list of the "Cultural Resources Worthy of Preservation" by the United States Department of the Interior.[2] As Germantown, the village was listed in 1979 on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]
In 2008, the Louisiana State Legislature under Act 847 declared it appropriate for the state to operate the Germantown Colony and Museum.[9] On July 1, 2009, the museum switched from parish to state control. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. A Bluegrass music festival is held annually the last Saturday of September. The facility is closed during winter. There is no admission.[10]
Germantown Colony is featured in two 1977 articles in the publication North Louisiana History, based in Shreveport. Pauline Jennings penned "Elisa Leone: First Lady of the Germantown Colony," in Vol. 8, No.2 (Winter 1977), pp. 43-51. Rita Moore Krouse wrote "The Germantown Store" in the same edition, pp. 53-64.
Related Webster Parish history is also featured in the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum in Minden.
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