"Perhaps the most successful of all those experimental societies which have at different times and places in the country sought a solution for religious and economic problems by a communal life, is that of the “True Inspirationists” of Iowa. If an adherence to early tenets, together with the achievement of material success, is the criterion by which we shall judge them, then the great colony in Iowa County, Iowa is to be accounted a success."
The Amana Flouring Mill
"The very existence of the colony is an anachronism in the light of an ambitious civilization, for in this age of crowding conquest and swift reward to personal effort we can scarcely comprehend the mental lethargy or inertness of men who voluntarily put aside ambition and merge their lives into a common existence. The Inspirationists trace their history to EL Gruber, a devout and conscientious religionist who was born in Germany in 1664. Gruber dies in 1728 but his teachings were not to die with him. The communistic feature of the creed was not considered in the early development of the idea – indeed was undreamed of by its founders, and was not added until the sect planted itself in America."
The Amana Hotel
"The Iowa Inspirationists number about eighteen hundred people, and they occupy a tract of land embracing twenty-five thousand acres. Here dwell a people who know no poverty, who if they indulge in few luxuries, have no ultimate penury to fear – a people who adhere to the laws of God and man with scrupulous exactness, who are frugal, kind, considerate, and just.
They believed that war was a relic of barbarism; that brotherly love as taught by Christ should lead to the settlement of both national and individual controversies by arbitration rather than at the high court of warfare."
A Typical Home in Amana, Iowa
"They do not dwell on separate farms, but in close little hamlets, eight in number. There is an utter absence of paint or whitewash. It has been adopted as a rule of the society. The weather-beaten walls look dingy and dreary, giving the towns a wretched air of desolation, which is partially dissipated when viewed near at hand."
The Amana Woolen Mill
"There is a commercial and industrial side to the community which gives it great importance in the West. The great industry of Inspirationists centres in the woolen and print mills. Most of the machinery is driven by water power from the Iowa River.
Industrial training goes hand in hand with the mental discipline. The classes of little boys knit and sew under the direction of the pedagogue, plying the needle in ludicrous solemnity. "
South Amana