Stelle, Illinois
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Stelle is an unincorporated village located in northern Ford County, Illinois. Its estimated population as of 2004 is approximately 100.
Geography
Stelle is located at Template:Coor dms (40.9525, -88.1535). It has no official boundaries, but the developed area covers about 70 acres (28 hectares).
History
Stelle was founded in 1973 by the Stelle Group, an organization founded ten years earlier by Richard Kieninger. In his book The Ultimate Frontier (written under the pen name Eklal Kueshana), Mr. Kieninger outlined the advice he claimed to have been given by the "Brotherhoods", secret organizations he said had existed for thousands of years. This advice included a prediction of cataclysmic earth changes to occur around the year 2000, and recommendations to make much easier the advancement of individuals to higher planes of existence, by reducing bad karma, and education. In order to foster such advancement, the Stelle Group built Stelle, which was predicted by Kieninger to have 250,000 people by 2000. (Stelle is an example of an intentional community.)
Though The Ultimate Frontier sold around 100,000 copies, difficult membership qualifications for entry, and general mismanagement and lack of funds never allowed Stelle to expand from its peak population of 200. Mr. Kieninger was forced to leave Stelle in 1982 for, among other reasons, his affairs with several younger women in the village. He founded another village in Texas by the name of Adelphi to continue his mission and many of Stelle's residents at the time followed him there.
Until 1982, Stelle was a closed community. All dwellings and the town's one factory were owned by the Stelle Group. Since then the Stelle Group has sold almost all its property in Stelle, although it retains several buildings and 100 acres (400,000 m²) of farmland outside the town. Village sewer and water services are now provided by a homeowners association.
At present, Stelle is becoming more similar to the villages surrounding it. Few of its inhabitants belong to the Stelle Group anymore (which now has drastically different beliefs than it did in its early days). It is still notable for its suburb-like design, and the solar panels on many homes. It has its own telephone company, which provides television, telephone, and internet access to the village.