El Peep Ynamoot, Washington
(pronounced “ĕl PĒP ĭn-ə-moot”)
The village was founded in 1969 by eleven “long-haired friends of Jesus.” While it took a couple years to decide on the name, from the beginning the community described themselves as a “Malthusian Neo-Bellamyite liberal progressive utopian democratic cooperative.” The people who live in the village do not call themselves El Peep Ynamootians—they prefer the name “Peeps.”
For the first fifteen years the community grew very slowly. They managed to survive, barely, using the products of their small farm, creating mail-order “hippy” products, and doing odd jobs throughout the region. The community really started to prosper when it was reformed as a corporation specializing in “organic products.”
Over the next 35 years, the village of El Peep Ynamoot grew rapidly. Today, the village is a planned community of a little over 1300 people. It was designed and built as a series of circles within circles.
Take a Virtual Tour of El Peep Ynamoot.
