a committee to search for a location for the colony. The committee, including Bellangee, investigated sites in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. They decided that the eastern shore of Mobile Bay would be the ideal location for the single tax community because of its climate and beauty. In November 1894, the first groups and families from Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the Pacific coast arrived on steamers, wagons, and horseback. The first purchase of land by the colony was 132 acres, with 2,800 feet of waterfront, for $6.00 an acre.The Single Tax Colony faced many difficulties in the beginning. Most of the colonists did not know each other and were not accustomed to the South. Much of the land was not prime real estate. The Single Tax Colony could not afford at first to purchase enough land to realistically demonstrate the single tax principles. The colonists were determined to overcome adversity and make their “ideal” community a success. By 1907, the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation owned 4,000 acres and consisted of 125 homes and a population of 500. The Corporation provided public bathhouses, a school, a library, and the only public waterworks in Baldwin County. The business district consisted of a dozen stores, three hotels, a sawmill, a brickyard, a blacksmith shop, and a printing shop.In 1908, a municipal government was set up in Fairhope as a separate entity from the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation. The City of Fairhope took responsibility for all administrative duties pertaining to the city such as the maintenance of utilities and streets. The Single Tax Corporation has provided the City of Fairhope with many benefits including the beachfront park and the park on the bluff overlooking Mobile Bay. These parks were a gift to the City of Fairhope with a stipulation that they would always be used as public parks and not private use or gain. The gifts and the stipulation demonstrated that the...
