单选题   Para. 1 ①A group of populist reformers from up north arrived in Alabama with a radical plan. ②Their mission: to establish an experimental utopian community inspired by the economist Henry George, whose wildly popular book, 'Progress and Poverty,' influenced readers around the world in search of more equitable societies. ③In this case, their chosen setting was a swath of pine-and pasture-covered land perched high on a bluff over-looking Mobile Bay. ④There, wrote one of the founders, Ernest Gaston, these pioneers would build 'a city set upon a hill, shedding its beneficent light to all the world.' ⑤Somewhat more modestly, they christened their settlement Fairhope, asserting that their dream community would have 'a fair hope' of succeeding.
    Para. 2 ①Henry George's acolytes put their faith in his concept of a 'single tax' colony where the community owned the land and homeowners paid an annual tax that funded the creation of parks and public amenities. ②The founders set aside nearly a mile of beachfront as public parkland, writes Cathy Donelson, a local historian. ③They quickly drew more settlers—and soon vacationers, too. ④Early tourists arrived by steamboat, enticed with attractions like the giant water slide that deposited frolickers directly into the bay, while the annual Shakespeare festival offered free outdoor performances that used the scenic natural setting as a stage.
    Para. 3 ①Fairhope's blend of natural beauty and eccentric ambition continued to attract artists, writers and intellectuals. ②The noted progressive educator, Marietta Johnson, opened her School of Organic Education in town. ③Clarence Darrow, the original super-lawyer, was a fan of the single-tax philosophy and wintered in Fairhope in the 1920s and '30s. ④Upton Sinclair wrote his novel 'Love's Pilgrimage' in a tent on the bluff.
    Para. 4 A century later, Fairhope is still a draw for writers seeking a peaceful retreat, for art lovers—most notably during the annual Fairhope Arts & Crafts Festival in March—and for many other vacationers, no shortage of whom fall for this unheralded setting and decide to stay.
    Para. 5 ①'It's just a magical little place,' said the author Fannie Flagg. ②'There are people that have come there from all over the world. ③Once they see it, there's a charm about it that they just love.' ④Ms. Flagg was born in Birmingham and first visited Fairhope as a child. ⑤She was lured back years later. ⑥'When I started writing, I was living in New York and wanted a place to get away, so I thought, 'Why don't I go down to Fairhope?'' ⑦She wrote her first book in Fairhope, then returned again to pen the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Fried Green Tomatoes. ⑧She kept a home in Fairhope for many years, and still returns frequently.
    Para. 6 ①'There's an amazing amount of artistic talent that is all gathered here in this one place,' said the writer Sonny Brewer, who has lived in Fairhope for more than four decades. ②Mr. Brewer, who formerly ran a bookstore in town, founded the Fairhope Center for the Writing Arts, which invites writers-in-residence for monthlong stays in a 1920s cottage tucked behind the city's public library. ③Fellow scribes, Mr. Brewer said, have joked about erecting a billboard welcoming visitors to 'Fairhope, Alabama, the home of more writers than readers.'