Ahh Utopia, Utopia, NY

Ahh Utopia, Utopia, NY

Yep, I found it, in Utopia, Ohio along the Ohio River. But Utopia is not always what it seems. In 1844 followers of Charles Fourier, a french philosophy settled on the banks of the mighty Ohio river.  It was communal but also hinted of socialism as all were to share everything equally among its residents, unfortunately they could not survive as they did not make enough money and apparently they did not get along with one another.

The land was sold to a spiritualist group led by John Wattles. He and his followers decide to build their dining hall/town hall very close to the river despite warnings from locals about flooding from the river. According to history they moved the structure brick by brick and completed it several days before the Flood of 1847, one of the biggest in 19th century. That evening in December as the water rose above flood level, the townspeople took refuge in the two story brick house on the shore of the river. A flash flood on December 13 killed most of Wattles people who drowned or died of hypotermia in the river. (Roadside America states 150 out of 156) Now Utopia is a "virtual" Ghost town as the spot where they drowned is rumored to be haunted.  Residents claim to see the spiritualist walking out of the water and strange lights have been seen moving along the shore and over the water.