Visual Sociologist J. Michael Skaggs visited Utopia, Ohio on July 4, 1998. Skaggs is a native of Kentucky, born in Maysville in 1947 and grew up in Newport during the 50s and 60s.

Utopia is mid-way between Cincinnati and Maysville, KY on U. S. 52. As a child the family would make the drive from Newport just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati to visit relatives in Maysville never stopping in Utopia.