Amana Colonies, Iowa

In 1843 a group of Germans, motivated by religious persecution and economic depression in their homeland, departed for America. They intially purchased 5000 acres near Buffalo NY. They called their community the Ebenezer Society and adopted a constitution that formalized a communal way of life. Needing more farmland, in 1855 they relocated to the valley of the Iowa River and called it Amana. They initially established six colonies and self-sustaining agricultural activities. The Amana Colonies became one of America's longest-lived and largest religious communal society. In 1932, during the Great Depression and a changing rural economy, they made the decision to end their communal society with an action known as "The Great Change". They established the Amana Society, Inc., a profit-sharing corporation, to manage the farmland, the mills and the larger enterprises. Each communal member received shares in the Amana Society, Inc. The original farmland land, over 26,000 acres, and some of the businesses are still owned and managed by the society. Amana Refrigeration Products was once part of the Amana Society, but it was later sold to private investors. Remember the Amana Radarange? It became a subsidiary of Raytheon Corporation in 1965. It is now owned by Whirlpool, who still operates a manufacturing plant here. Dorcas and I attended a hike led by a Society forester. The Society manages over 7000 acres of hardwood forests. It harvests sustainable timber for the Amana furniture makers as well as for outside customers. During the hike, we let Matilda off-leash for a few hours in the woods. She did great. She stayed with us, although she did get a little bored when we stopped to talk about forestry stuff.