[1] Download coordinates as: Founded by the Unitarian minister Edward B. Payne (1847–1923) and thirty of his followers near Santa Rosa, California, in October 1894, Altruria prospered only for a few months.
In 1892 he returned to Berkeley as the first minister of First Unitarian Church, where he delivered sermons reflecting socialist principles and covering political events of his era.
[2][3] The last installment of William Dean Howells' popular work, A Traveller from Altruria, was published in the 1893 issue of Cosmopolitan.
[citation needed] After settlement, the community started a hotel on the property.
The Altrurians kept orchards and gardens and sold their produce in a shop in San Francisco, whose manager was Job Harriman.