Note: The last History Tour of the 2025 season will be at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 14, 2025.
This is our main tour, the one that takes you inside historic buildings, tells you the comprehensive story of the Harmonists and Owenites and gives you the context to understand what these experiments meant and why they still matter.
You'll spend about 90 minutes traveling through New Harmony with a knowledgeable interpreter. You'll see where people lived, worked, worshipped and argued about how to build a perfect society. You'll hear about the successes, the conflicts, the ambitious ideas and the practical realities. And you'll get honest answers to questions about what worked, what didn't and what these communities left behind.
Our History Tour is the best way to experience New Harmony if you want to really understand what happened here.
Most of the buildings you'll see on this tour are not open to the public outside of guided tours. This is your chance to step inside spaces where the Harmonists and Owenites lived and worked: sleeping quarters, workspaces, meeting rooms and structures that were central to daily life in both communities.
You'll learn about the 800 German Pietists who came here seeking religious freedom, what they believed, how they organized their community and what they accomplished in a decade. The Harmonists built a thriving, self-sufficient town that produced goods sold internationally. You'll understand their religious vision, their economic success and why they left.
Robert Owen and William Maclure bought the entire town and invited scientists, educators and reformers to create a "Community of Equality." For a brief, remarkable period, some of the best minds in America gathered here in New Harmony. You'll hear about their visions, what they created, why the experiment lasted only two years and what they contributed despite the community's short life.
The story didn't end when the utopian experiments concluded. Many people stayed. Scientists continued their research. Educators kept teaching. The intellectual and cultural work that started here in New Harmony influenced American geology, education and social reform. You'll understand the longer legacy of what happened in New Harmony.
Our interpreters know this history deeply, not just the basic facts, but the complexities, contradictions and questions that make it interesting. They're ready to discuss different interpretations, answer hard questions and help you think through what these experiments mean.
We're not rushing you through. There's time to look at architectural details, ask questions, think about what you're seeing and have conversations. Good tours need breathing room.
We use a tram to transport the group between some of the buildings in the historic district. This makes the tour more comfortable, especially in hot or cold weather, and allows us to cover more ground without wearing you out. You'll still do plenty of walking, but the tram handles the longer distances.
1:00 p.m. Central Time, Tuesday through Sunday
Available for groups of 10 or more. Groups must make advance reservations.
Recommended
Approximately 90 minutes
Atheneum Visitors Center
Maximum of 22-25 people
The tour involves walking on sidewalks, brick paths, stairs and sometimes uneven surfaces. Comfortable walking shoes are essential.
The tram is accessible for visitors with mobility limitations. Boarding assistance is available. If you have specific accessibility needs or questions, contact us before booking.
Most of the tour happens outdoors, moving between buildings. Dress appropriately for the weather. Tours operate in most conditions, but severe weather may cause delays or rescheduling.
If you've never been to New Harmony and want to understand the place, this is where to start. It gives you the foundation for everything else.
If you're interested in utopian communities, 19th-century social reform, American religious history or intentional communities, this tour provides substantial content and welcomes in-depth questions.
Teachers bringing classes, college students studying relevant topics or anyone learning about communal societies, educational reform or American social movements will find this tour valuable.
If you're interested in why people do what they do, how communities function, what makes experiments succeed or struggle, this tour engages with those ideas.
This tour talks honestly about what worked and what didn't, who benefited and who didn't, what these communities achieved and where they fell short. If you want the real, complicated story, this is it.
Many visitors spend time after the History Tour exploring on their own: walking through public gardens, visiting the Working Men's Institute Museum & Library, seeing contemporary architecture or just sitting and thinking about what they've learned. Our tour gives you the foundation. What you do with it after that is up to you.
Contact the Atheneum at 812-682-4474 for more information or to book your tour.