COMMUNITIES, INDUSTRIAL, group systems of housing employees and their families near isolated factories, pro vided by the factory owners. Although employers' housing in the United States is as old as industry itself, it was not until the latter part of the 19th century, when economic conditions following the Civil War made it. necessary for owners to provide, if not com pletely control, the living conditions of employees, that industrial communities came into any great prominence. Since that time, when the Pullman and southern mill villages were established, such communities have become common all over the United States, especially in the regions of the Western coal fields, New England textile mills and the Ohio rubber factories. The degree to which the company owns and controls the village activities varies con siderably, but often the employees have a voice in the Municipal Government. In the better type of industrial communities streets are laid out, houses constructed, water supply and sewage systems constructed and stores are operated where food, clothing and fuel may be bought at reduced prices. Physicians and visiting nurses are maintained by the factory officials, while education is con ducted through clinics, day nurseries and hygiene classes. Often the company helps to support the public schools and to conduct night classes, and it frequently provides gymnasium and recreation facilities. Working further on the theory that good living condi tions result in increased production, there is a growing tendency among some of the more progressive factory owners to plant trees, set aside parks and generally to combine the aesthetic with the utilitarian in the make-up of industrial communities.