Arthurdale, in Preston County, West Virginia was founded as part of the New Deal by FDR during his first term in office. This 8-year experiment was part of the communist-inspired back-to-the-farm movement of the 1930s and was instituted in part to quell the upset of out of work coal miners in WV and to serve as a propaganda piece for the administration. In spite of the fact that I grew up only about 2 hours away and took an entire course in 8th grade devoted to the history of the State, I had never heard of the project before today. Perhaps, this speaks to the success of what was to be a model village for the country and the world moving forward from the great depression. It turned out to be severely over budget and under productive with nearly all of the residents working outside of the private sector. A variety of industries attempted to start up there and failed causing the federal government to give up on the project in 1941 and sell the property at a considerable loss.
This is an excellent historical anecdote to keep in mind as our noble leaders present their plans for our future.
The following links are worth reading for more history on the project:
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