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La Réunion (Dallas)

Coordinates: 32°45′33.22″N 96°51′24.8″W / 32.7592278°N 96.856889°W / 32.7592278; -96.856889
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Réunion, Texas
Ghost town
La Réunion is located in Texas
La Réunion
La Réunion
Location within Texas
La Réunion is located in the United States
La Réunion
La Réunion
La Réunion (the United States)
Coordinates: 32°45′33.22″N 96°51′24.8″W / 32.7592278°N 96.856889°W / 32.7592278; -96.856889
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
CountyDallas
Settled1855
Founded byBelgian, French, Swiss Colonists
Elevation
429 ft (131 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
FIPS code48113
GNIS feature ID2034083
For other uses, see Reunion and La Reunion.

La Réunion was a utopian socialist community formed in 1855 by French, Belgian, and Swiss colonists on the south bank of the Trinity River in central Dallas County, Texas, United States. The colony site was largely bounded by the present day streets of Hampton Rd, Westmoreland Rd, Canada Dr, and Davis St.[1]

The director of the colony, Victor Prosper Considerant, was the leader of the French Fourierist movement after the death of François Marie Charles Fourier. La Réunion existed for only eighteen months, with its demise attributable to mismanagement, financial insolvency, a shortage of skilled participants, inclement weather, inability to succeed at farming, and rising costs.

History

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The founders of La Réunion intended it to become a socialist utopian colony; they were inspired by the writings of the French philosopher Charles Fourier, who advocated communal production and distribution for communal profit. Unlike other early communist systems, both men and women could vote and individuals could own private property.

Founding

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Considerant accepted an invitation from Arthur Brisbane to tour the United States and traveled widely in 1852-1853. After personally inspecting an area near the three forks of the Trinity River in Texas and being greatly impressed by the climate and opportunities there, he returned to Europe and published a book titled Au Texas advocating for the establishment of a Fourierist colony in the region.[2]

The Societe de Colonisation Europeo Americaine was established on September 26, 1854 as a joint-stock company; the equivalent of $1 million worth of shares were sold to a range of investors including Jean-Baptiste-André Godin, promising six percent interest per year. As director, Considerant was guaranteed five-sixteenths of all stock issued. The Phalange was not to be fully communistic, but co-operative - with divisions of profit going in proportion to labor, capital and talent.[3]

Land purchase

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Advance agent François Cantagrel was sent ahead to buy land; he purchased 1920 acres of land for the colony at a cost of $10270. The land included both the limestone cliffs where the townsite would be built as well as Trinity River bottom lands with rich soil for farming.[4]

Approximately 200 colonists arrived by ship near present-day Houston. They walked overland to the site of their new colony approximately 250 miles (400 km) northward, with their possessions hauled by ox carts, and arrived on April 22, 1855.

Original population

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The general area surrounding the three forks of the Trinity River had about 400 inhabitants at the time. The addition of the French colonists nearly doubled the population. The new arrivals spoke a different language from the settlers, believed in a different system of government and Catholic faith, and brought with them skills that the existing farmers did not possess. The watchmaking, weaving, brewing and storekeeping skills of the new colonists were ill-suited to the establishment of a colony, since they lacked the experience and ability to produce food for themselves.

Organization

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Initially, plans for the colony were loosely structured as Considerant intended to make it a "communal experiment administered by a system of direct democracy."[5] The crux of the plan was to allow participants to share in profits derived from capital investments and the amount and quality of labor performed.

Texas weather

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Although the colonists cultivated wheat and vegetables, they did not produce enough for their needs or in time; their biggest handicap was the uncooperative weather of Texas.[6] A blizzard in May 1856 destroyed the colony's crops and covered the Trinity River with ice. That summer the Texas heat created drought conditions, and what was left of the crops became eaten by an invasion of grasshoppers.

Decline

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Although more than 350 European colonists eventually made La Réunion their home, the experiment was already beginning to fail as the population began to leave due to the community's financial troubles.[7] Some returned to Europe while others moved out of the area.[7][8]

On January 28, 1857, Allyre Bureau, one of the society leaders, gave formal notice of the colony's dissolution. By 1860, what most of the remaining land was incorporated into the expanding city of Dallas.[5] The last La Réunion house collapsed in the 1930s.[citation needed] By 1940, the city of Dallas incorporated the remaining unoccupied land that was once La Réunion.[7]

Legacy

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La Reunion Cemetery historical marker in West Dallas
La Reunion historical marker on a golf course in Oak Cliff

Shortly before the demise of La Réunion, botanist and pharmacist Jacob Boll arrived and taught Julien Reverchon. The latter man became celebrated in his own right as a professor of botany at Baylor University College of Medicine and Pharmacy in Dallas. The first brewery and butcher shops in Dallas were established by former colonists from La Réunion; Maxime Guillot opened a carriage factory that operated for 50 years.

Starting in the 1880s, former colonist and geologist Emil Remond bought a parcel just west of the original colony and began fabricating bricks and cement from the and clay and limestone there. In 1900, his efforts convinced a group of Galveston investors to establish a factory for the Texas Portland Cement & Lime Company on colony land adjacent to the Texas and Pacific Railroad line. The industrial landscape that would develop has had a significant impact on surrounding West Dallas throughout the 20th century.[9]

The cemetery on the old colony site still serves as the final resting place for some of the colonists. It is maintained by the City of Dallas and is located in west Dallas. The La Réunion Cemetery received a historic marker in 1974.[10][11] The Daughters of the American Revolution placed a small memorial to the colony at a nearby golf course. The La Réunion Dallas historical site received a historic marker on April 10, 1924.[12][13]

The Reunion District and Reunion Tower were named after the colony and are located a few miles east of where La Réunion once existed.[14]

Notable Colonists

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ La Reunion History (26 April 2008). "La Reunion History: More Maps". Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  2. ^ Davidson, Rondel V. "La Réunion". TSHA Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  3. ^ Santerre, George (1955). White Cliffs of Dallas: The Story of La Reunion The Old French Colony. Book Craft, Dallas. pp. 82–83.
  4. ^ Santerre, George (1955). White Cliffs of Dallas: The Story of La Reunion The Old French Colony. Book Craft, Dallas. pp. 90–91.
  5. ^ a b Davidson, Rondel V. "La Réunion". TSHA Handbook of Texas Online. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  6. ^ Pratt, James (2020). Sabotaged : Dreams of Utopia in Texas. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 172–175. ISBN 978-1-4962-0792-0. OCLC 1162655230.
  7. ^ a b c "LA REUNION - Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)". The Handbook of Texas Online. 2010-06-15. Archived from the original on 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  8. ^ Barton, Julia (2016-03-24). "The failed socialist utopian dream that helped Dallas become a major city". Public Radio International. Archived from the original on 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  9. ^ "Cement City Collection". University of Texas Libraries. 1908-04-28. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  10. ^ "Details for La Reunion Cemetery Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5113006756". Atlas: Texas Historical Commission. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2019 – via atlas.thc.state.tx.us.
  11. ^ La Réunion Cemetery: 3300 block of Fish Trap Road; in West Dallas, Housing Park: Texas marker #6756 | [1] Archived 2013-04-21 at archive.today
  12. ^ "Details for La Reunion Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5113006755". Atlas: Texas Historical Commission. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2019 – via atlas.thc.state.tx.us.
  13. ^ La Réunion - Dallas: Stevens Park Golf Course, Tee #6; on Hampton Road at intersection with Old Orchard: Texas marker #6755 | [2] Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "The failed socialist utopian dream that helped Dallas become a major city". TheWorld.org. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  • Santerre, George H. White Cliffs of Dallas. The Book Craft, Dallas, 1955. Dallas Public Library Reference: R.976.428 S234W. The Story of La Reunion, the Old French Colony.
  • Considerant, Victor. Au Texas. New York, 1855. Dallas Public Library Reference: REF R334.683 C755A 1975. In French.
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