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LIVING IN THE ANTELOPE VALLEY
STORIES FROM THE ANTELOPE VALLEY
On May 1, 1914, the Llano del Rio, a utopian
community, was established in the southeast
Antelope Valley near the present day community of
Llano. Among its founders was Indiana native Job Harriman, an idealist
and charismatic young lawyer who
had unsuccessfully run for Vice
President in 1900 on the first-ever
Socialist Party platform and for
mayor of Los Angeles in 1911.
Thwarted by political efforts to
effect social change, Harriman
and his fellow visionaries instead
thought they could accomplish
their socialist utopian goals via the
colony’s cooperative economic system.
Designed by prominent feminist and architect, Alice Constance Austin,
Llano del Rio thrived for several years on its egalitarian lifestyle, including
dairy farming, orchard cultivation, and preparing publications, and its
population exceeded 1,000 at one point.
However, its undoing began when it was discovered that an earthquake
fault line diverted much of its long-term water supply and Harriman and
company were unsuccessful at getting area land barons to sell access to
a new supply. After additional internal hurdles, in 1917, about 200
participants moved the colony to Stables, Louisiana, a defunct lumber
town, and renamed it New Llano.
Group of Llano del Rio Colonists, Christmas, 1914
For many more stories and photographs depicting the history of the
Antelope Valley, please visit the County of LA Public Library’s
Antelope Valley Community History website at
www.colapublib.org/history/antelopevalley.
2 | ANTELOPE VALLEY CONNECTION | Enriching Lives
Ruins of the Llano del Rio community can still be
found today along Pearblossom Highway
(Highway 138) near 165th Street East, a few
miles east of Pearblossom.
Despite their relatively brief existence, the
Llano colonies made a mark as a social
experiment, including having one of the
country’s first Montessori schools, widespread
recognition for the production and sale of
high-quality food and other items, hosting
a fertile intellectual and cultural climate,
replete with orchestras and theater groups,
and innovative social services, including
low-cost housing, minimum-wage pay, and
universal health care, which were decades
ahead of their time. Though financial woes
and infighting forced the colony into bankruptcy
in 1939, Llano del Rio is today considered
Western American history’s most important
non-religious utopian community.
Dormitory and Hotel Llano, 1916