Utopia was founded in 1844 by followers of French philosopher Charles Fourier, whose Fourierism was based on utopian socialism and equal sharing of investments in money and labor and reached peak popularity in the United States from about 1824 until 1846. The experimental community dissolved in 1846 because of lack of financial success and disenchantment with Fourierism. In 1847, John O. Wattles, leader of a society of spiritualists, purchased the land and brought his followers there. Seeking a secluded area to practice their religion, the spiritualists built a two-story brick house on the shore of the Ohio River. A flash flood on December 13, 1847, killed most of Wattles' people, and most of the few survivors left the area. Henry Jernegan of Amelia laid out the present village in 1847.