History Of Fairhope
Members of the single tax club in Des Moines, Iowa, decided in 1894 that they wanted to do more than just discuss the single tax theory. They wanted to build an actual community that would employ, as best they could, single tax principles. Still meeting in Iowa, they formulated their plans, wrote a constitution, and began seeking a site. Upon passage of the constitution one of the founding members said he believed there was a fair hope that the experiment would succeed. Thus the name for the utopian demonstration community: Fairhope.
A committee consisting of James Bellangee and Shuah S. Mann was appointed to select a site for the community. After looking at several prospective sites in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas, the eastern shore of Mobile Bay was selected. The Fairhope Industrial Association started buying land there, and in November of 1894 a group of 28 single taxers from Des Moines as well as other cities assembled in Fairhope to begin building their model community.
In an attempt to restore the park to the state in which the founders would have enjoyed, Knoll Park is being restored to a long leaf ecosystem with natural pathways.