Editing Edison, Washington (section)

==History==
First settled in 1869 by Ben Samson, it was later named for famous inventor [[Thomas Edison|Thomas Alva Edison]] (1847-1931), with his inventing productive laboratories in [[Menlo Park, New Jersey]], [[East Orange, New Jersey]], and [[Fort Myers, Florida]].<ref name=majors>{{Cite book| last = Majors | first = Harry M. | title = Exploring Washington | publisher = Van Winkle Publishing Co | year = 1975 | page = 19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoWrPQAACAAJ| isbn = 978-0-918664-00-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Meany|first=Edmond S.|title=Origin of Washington geographic names|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027074981;view=1up;seq=92|year=1923|publisher=University of Washington Press|location=Seattle|page=76}}</ref>

In 1897, Edison became the headquarters of a national [[utopian socialism|utopian socialist]] project known as [[Equality Colony]], backed by an organization known as the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth.<ref name=LeWarne63-66>Charles Pierce LeWarne, ''Utopias on Puget Sound, 1885-1915.'' Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1995; pp. 63-66.</ref> The [[socialist colony]] was established on 280 acres just outside Edison and it engaged in farming and timber milling and included a school as well as blacksmith and copper-working shops. The Edison-based Brotherhood also published a newspaper called ''Industrial Freedom'' for national circulation to its approximately 3,000 supporters.<ref name=LeWarne63-66 /> The socialist community folded shortly after 1903, by which time only about 100 colony members remained.<ref>LeWarne, ''Utopias on Puget Sound, 1885-1915,'' pp. 102-103.</ref>