Portrait of a Community: The History and Roots of Homestead Heritage - A Brief Survey

This sketch of a small agricultural community (Homestead Heritage) in rural Texas briefly recounts a journey of discovery so remarkable that it became an exodus. The story begins in the slums of New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen in 1973. It continues with a step-by-step transformation of city dwellers into a people of the land, an unfolding process that gradually encompassed all areas of life. These many steps of transformation finally came together in a mosaic that formed an entirely different cultural alternative. In the course of its journey, the community revived its roots in the 500-year-old Anabaptist tradition, developing sustainable agricultural and craft skills that they now teach to thousands of others. One recent visitor said, “This is a place where ordinary people working together do extraordinary things very well.” Some only dream of such a life, but this is a story to inspire “ordinary people” everywhere to believe that their dreams can become a reality, too.