Rappite Dye House, Main & Granary Streets, New Harmony, Posey County, IN

Significance: This brick structure was built c. 1816 by the Harmony Society as a dye house in their Utopian experimental community. In 1816 the Harmony Society, a religious sect, designed and constructed this building to serve as a dye factory for dyeing silk material. Between 1821 and 1822 a brick addition, and then a log cabin were added at the rear. The stone foundations, solid brick walls, mortised and pinned rafters, and Dutch biscuit lath and plaster ceilings in the original structure, are typical of Rappite or Harmony Society buildings. The building was later sold with the community to Robert Owen for an educational and cultural society. The present owner is Mrs. Jane Owen.
Survey number: HABS IN-38
Building/structure dates: 1816 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000006