Established in 1933–34 under the Federal Homestead Act, this was one of several model planned communities nationwide and a pet project of Eleanor Roosevelt, created to assist unemployed people through self-sufficient farming and handicrafts. The town was built on 2,400 acres and included 165 homes on 4-acre plots, schools, chicken and dairy farms, furniture, pottery, metal and textile shops, a store, community hall, and an inn.