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Icarian County Historic Marker

Location of sign - Located on US Hwy 34 just east of Corning, Iowa. Contrary to the text in the marker, there are no remaining buildings from the colony.

Photo taken September 2009

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Wayne

Text of sign:

Icarian County

Formed in France by Etienne Cabet, this group comprised of many talented and well~educated person. All possessions surrendered to a common fund, all worked for a common good.

Landed in New Orleans in 1848, all applied for citizenship, same year. Settled near Dallas, Texas, where many died of fever, the others returned to New Orleans. Later the same year they moved to Nalvoc, Ill. By 1854, they owned 1,500 acres of land.

In 1860, 235 of this group bought 9 sections of land in Adams County, Iowa, four miles East of Coming. Buildings were placed in a parallelogram around a central dining and recreation hall. The school house now Prescott No. 8, still standing.

Colony dissolved in 1895. Cemetery and three buildings privately owned, are 1/4 mile North of this marker.

Much of the 2,000 volume library is in the University of Omaha.

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