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Hutterites settle Russian Houses

It wasn’t uncommon in the 19th century for the occupants of a place to select the name of the place where they lived.

In fact, some residents in the county were given that authority when E-911 went into effect when previously unnamed streets and roads suddenly needed names.

But in the case of a tract of land in Limestone Township known as “Russian Homes” in the 1880s, the locals appear to have gotten it all wrong… or at least not known the difference between Russia and Germany.

Two large wooden structures – 32 feet by 96 feet and two stories high – were located about four miles across the Allegheny River from Tidioute on land owned by the Economy Oil Company. The structures are gone but it certainly isn’t beyond belief that foundation remnants remain.

The houses were constructed for a group of Hutterites who came to the area from the Dakota Territory in 1884.

Hutterites are a radical, communal and German arm of Anabaptists that grew out of the Protestant Reformation in the 1600s. The “Russian Houses” name perhaps comes from the fact that the Hutterites fled Germany and spent time in Russia before emigrating to the United States.

They came in April 1886 and had mostly left by the end of June 1886.

“The newcomers manufactured charcoal and some worked as lumbermen,” according to an article on Russian Houses. “But in a region where hard work, long hours and little time off was the rule, their religious demands for many holidays and their secluded living behind high board fences did not fit in well and they did not become financially independent.”

There also appear to have been challenges selling their land in the Dakotas which may have contributed to their decision to return to the midwest.

Today, there are over 45,000 Hutterites, most of which live in Canada and in the Great Plains area.

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