Sodus Bay Phalanx Record Book

The Sodus Bay Phalanx was a Fourierist society, based upon the utopian system of French social reformer Charles Fourier and popular in the U.S. from 1844-1847. Fourierest societies were organized into self-sufficient cooperatives called phalansteries. This was not a religious movement but rather a socialist communalist movement, one of several forms of Utopian socialism that were then current.

The Sodus Bay Phalanx was established in 1844 on land formerly owned by the Shakers. The 1400 acre site was well-watered and fertile, and a number of buildings already existed, having been erected by the former Shaker occupants. The Phalanx itself originated in Rochester, born of the first annual convention of the Fourier Society of the City of Rochester on August 22, 1843. Following this large meeting, the Fourierists of Rochester decided to create a single large community, but disagreement over location led to fracture following a large meeting at Rochester's Athenaeum on November 21, 1843. While the bulk of the group decided to locate their settlement in Clarkson, northwest of Rochester, a substantial minority under Benjamin Fish wanted to locate in the "Shaker Tract" on Sodus Bay. Thus, Fish purchased the land in January of 1844, leading to the foundation of the Sodus Bay Phalanx. By March of that year, over 300 people were resident at the site, and recruitment of new members was on-going.

Unfortunately, the Phalanx soon ran into problems. The population lacked enough able-bodied men to be economically self-sustaining, and the religious diversity amongst the members led to ideological conflict. In barely a year and a half, the Sodus Bay Phalanx went through 3 constitutions, lost much of its membership, and was reduced to near collapse. A $9450 debt ($7000 principal, $2450 interest) on the land would come due in the spring of 1846, and the Phalanx saw no manner in which to pay it off. As a result, on April 4, 1846, the community dissolved. The "Shaker Tract" reverted to its former owners, and the Phalanx faded into history.