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Desert Ghost Towns: Antelope Valley
Llano del Rio
Llano del Rio is Spanish for The River Plain
Llano del Rio was a socialist colony established in 1915 and later abandoned in 1918 due to arguments among colony directors most likely due to an inadequate water supply. Some ruins can still be seen from State Route 138.
This was the site of the most important non-religious Utopian experiment in western American history. Its founder, Job Harriman, was Eugene Debs' running mate in the presidential election of 1900. In subsequent years, Harriman became an influential socialist leader and in 1911 was almost elected mayor of Los Angeles. At its height in 1916, the colony contained a thousand members and was a flourishing communitarian experiment dedicated to the principal of cooperation rather than competition.
Reference: State of California
A Trip to Devil's Punchbowl in 1917
History of the Communistic Colony Llano Del Rio
