Forestville Commonwealth is an archaeological site

Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...

 and national historic district

Historic district (United States)

In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...

 located at Earlton

Coxsackie (town), New York

Coxsackie is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 8,918 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is said to derived from a Native American term, but it has various translations ....

 in Greene County, New York

Greene County, New York

Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Its name is in honor of the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. Its county seat is Catskill...

. The district contains seven contributing sites. It represents the remains of a utopian community

Utopia

Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...

 built in 1826-1827 as one of three Owenite

Owenism

Owenism is the utopian socialist philosophy of 19th century social reformer Robert Owen and his followers and successors, who are known as Owenites....

 experiments in New York State.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1974.

The Forestville Commonwealth

The following is a history of the Forestville Community as reported in the History of Greene County, New York with Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men, published in 1884:

One of the most interesting episodes in the history of the western part of this town was the community established there about 60 years ago. In 1824, Robert Owen, an English socialist, came to this country, preaching the doctrine of communism, which name had then the baleful significance it has at the present time. It was his favorite theory that the welfare and happiness of mankind could be increased by unity in communities in which all property should be held in common, and it was claimed that this, with associated labor, would greatly enhance the welfare of mankind. Through the influence of his lectures district communities were started in various places, and, among them, one at Haverstraw, on the Hudson. The principals and object of the community was to better their own condition and that of their fellow-men, which they considered could be done by living in community, and having all things in common, giving equal rights to each, and abolishing the terms mine and thine. Thus organized, they attempted to exemplify their theories by practice, but by some means their affairs became disordered, and the experiment came to an end in about five months. After the breaking up of this concern some of the members came to Coxsackie, and, uniting with some persons who were already settled here, they formed a new community, to which they gave the high-sounding name of Forestville Commonwealth. The founders of this undertaking were Samuel and Nathaniel Underhill, William G. Macy, Jethro Macy, John Norbury, Jacob Peterson, John S. Quimby, Henry Dickinson, Jacob Dickinson, Henry C. Fosdick, and Robert Weeks. Of these, the Dickinsons and Quimbys were here before. The site of this community was at a place called Lapham’s Mills, on a tract of land at the north end of the Stighkoke Patent on the east branch of Potick.

A. M. Lapham, who had a saw and grist-mill there is the latter part of the last century, was accidentally killed by his own machinery. The principles of this community were the same as those of the Haverstraw community, and met with no better success. Their capital was small and they were much in debt. They attempted to carry on an extensive business. Besides a large tract of land and their mill, they had a tannery, a wheelwright shop, and were engaged in shoemaking and other small manufacturing. From the little record they left behind, they seem to have had too many persons engaged in talking and law making, who did not work at any useful employment. The verdict of one of their number was, that “There were few good men to steer things right. We wanted men and women who would be willing to live in simple habitations and on plain and simple diet, and be contented with plain and simple clothing, and who would work together for each other’s good. With such, we might have succeeded, but such attempts cannot succeed without such men.” The experiment came to an end in a little more than a year, and on the 23d of October 1827, Henry Fosdick, Samuel Underill, and James Underhill, sold to John Norbury, James Underhill, and John S. Quimby, “A tract of land, 315 acres, being the whole lands lately occupied by the Forestville commonwealth.” Those who survived and retained the same views, went to Ohio, where they joined what was known as the Kendal Community

Kendal, Ohio

The plat for the town of Kendal, in Stark County, Ohio was entered on April 20, 1812. It was named by its founder, Thomas Rotch , after the town of Kendal, in Cumbria, England. Kendal was absorbed into the town of Massillon, Ohio in 1853.-History:...

, in Stark county. John S. Quimby remained for some years in Coxsackie, and had a son, Moses Quimby, the noted bee-keeper, whose work on bee-keeping is a standard authority on the subject. The principal house that was occupied by the community still stands, near the cemetery, and is owned by Amos Butler. The place still bears the name of the community, though not a man in all that region could give a definite account as to how it came by the name.