Arthurdale's New Deal experiment, and the debate over socialism
ARTHURDALE, West Virginia — The road into this quiet Preston County community gives little warning that it was once the setting for one of the New Deal’s most ambitious, and most debated, experiments.
TL;DR
- Arthurdale was the first experimental community established under the New Deal's federal subsistence-homesteads program, aiming to move impoverished families from industrial areas to planned rural communities.
- First lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a prominent champion of the project, visiting West Virginia coal camps and advocating for the planned community.
- The federal government built 165 homes equipped with electricity and indoor plumbing, along with schools and community facilities, providing sanitation, space, and stability previously unknown to residents.
- The project aimed to create a self-sustaining community economy through cooperative enterprises, gardens, and small-scale production, but struggled to achieve this goal.
- Arthurdale is viewed by critics as an expensive example of federal planning limits, while supporters highlight the tangible improvements in housing, education, and opportunity for families.
- By 1947, all homes were sold, mostly to the homesteaders, and Arthurdale is now a living community and a preservation site with a museum.