Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village
Encyclopedia
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village is a Shaker
village near New Gloucester
and Poland
, Maine
, in the United States
. It is the last active Shaker community, with only three members as of 2009. The community was established in either 1782, 1783 or 1793 at the height of the Shaker movement in the United States. The Sabbathday Lake meetinghouse was built in 1794. The entire property was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1974.
in 1747, in the home of Mother Ann Lee
. They developed from the religious group called the Quakers which originated in the 17th century. Both groups believed that everybody could find God within him or herself, rather than through clergy or rituals, but the Shakers tended to be more emotional and demonstrative in their worship. Shakers also believed that their lives should be dedicated to pursuing perfection and continuously confessing their sins and attempting a cessation of sinning.
The Shakers migrated to Colonial America
in 1774 in pursuit of religious freedom. They built 19 communal
settlements that attracted some 20,000 converts over the next century. The first Shaker village was built in New Lebanon, New York
at the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society
. The other 18 communities were built in Maine, New Hampshire
, Massachusetts
, Connecticut
, New York, Kentucky
, Ohio
, Indiana
, Georgia
and Florida
. Strict believers in celibacy
, Shakers maintained their numbers through conversion and adoption of orphans. The group reached maximum size of about 6,000 full members in 1840, but as of December 2009 had only three members left.
. The community grew to over two hundred members in less than a year. Its location in Cumberland County
, Maine, made it the most northern and eastern of all the Shaker communes. The Sabbathday Lake community grew to a size of 1900 acres (768.9 ha) with 26 large buildings by 1850. Buildings on the grounds included the meetinghouse, the Brethren's Shop which still holds a working blacksmith
shop and woodworking operation. A large Central Dwelling House was built in 1883 or 1884. The Shakers strived to be entirely self-sufficient. They built a mill and farm that enabled them to sell produce and commercial goods to the outside world. In 1823 there were about 150 members at the Sabbathday Lake community. Numbers diminished from there over the years to the three remaining as of 2009. Membership to the community is still open, and occasionally "novices" will explore joining the society.
As of 2006, the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village has 14 working buildings. Including the Central Dwelling House which houses the Shaker Sisters. The Central Dwelling House is also home to a music room, chapel
, kitchen
and large dining room
. The community still holds regular Public Meetings (worship services) on Sundays in the 1794 meetinghouse. Other buildings with historical significance are the Shaker Library, the Cart and Carriage Shed, Ox Barn, The Girl's Shop, Herb House, Brooder House, Wood House, a garage built in 1910 for the group's first car, stable, Summer House and the Laundry building. The village, which attracts up to 10,000 visitors a year, has been open to the public since 1931, when the Shaker Museum and Library was established.
This Museum is the largest repository of Maine Shaker culture. Examples of furniture, oval boxes, woodenware, metal and tin wares, technology and tools, "fancy" sales goods, costume and textiles, visual arts, and herbal and medicinal products are among the 13,000 artifacts currently part of the Sabbathday Lake collection. The collection represents every Shaker Community known to have existed, special emphasis has been placed upon preserving the heritage of the Maine Shaker Communities, including Sabbathday Lake, Poland Hill, Gorham
, and Alfred
.
causes problems for the future of the organization. Many prospective members find the celibacy a major drawback and it keeps them from joining. New members cannot be born into the group and must join from the outside. The members have taken steps to ensure that Sabbathday Lake Village will remain largely unchanged once the final members of the group pass away.
The 1643 acres (664.9 ha) of land owned by the Shakers in both Cumberland County
and Androscoggin County
include Sabbathday Lake which is 340 acres (137.6 ha) with 5000 feet (1,524 m) of undeveloped shoreline with a beach that is open to the public and the 150 acres (60.7 ha) Shaker Bog
. Other dismantled Shaker villages were converted into housing lots or prisons. In order to avoid this fate at Sabbathday Lake the Shakers took some preventative measures in 2001.
Preservation and conservation easement
s were sold to Maine Preservation and the New England Forestry Foundation. The two groups with the help of eight other public and non-profit agencies are working to cover cost of the easements. The village and surrounding farmland and forests will be protected from development. Brother Arnold Hadd was quoted by the Boston Globe in 2006. "We can't put up a Wal*Mart
. Or a housing development. The land always has to remain for agricultural
and forest purposes."
The selling of future development rights has enabled the Shakers to restore and maintain the structures of the village. They also make money by leasing 29 cottage lots on Sabbathday Lake, leasing 1000 acres (404.7 ha) of forests, 30 acres (12.1 ha) of farmland and orchard
s and a gravel pit
. Other income sources include production of fancy goods, basket making
, weaving
, printing, and the manufacturing of some small woodenware. Their operation is run with the help of six year-round employees and six seasonal employees.
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
village near New Gloucester
New Gloucester, Maine
New Gloucester is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, in the United States. It is home to the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, the last active Shaker Village in the U.S...
and Poland
Poland, Maine
Poland is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,866 at the 2000 census. Home to Range Ponds State Park, Poland is a historic resort area...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is the last active Shaker community, with only three members as of 2009. The community was established in either 1782, 1783 or 1793 at the height of the Shaker movement in the United States. The Sabbathday Lake meetinghouse was built in 1794. The entire property was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1974.
The Shakers
The Shakers were originally located in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1747, in the home of Mother Ann Lee
Ann Lee
Mother Ann Lee was the leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or Shakers....
. They developed from the religious group called the Quakers which originated in the 17th century. Both groups believed that everybody could find God within him or herself, rather than through clergy or rituals, but the Shakers tended to be more emotional and demonstrative in their worship. Shakers also believed that their lives should be dedicated to pursuing perfection and continuously confessing their sins and attempting a cessation of sinning.
The Shakers migrated to Colonial America
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
in 1774 in pursuit of religious freedom. They built 19 communal
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
settlements that attracted some 20,000 converts over the next century. The first Shaker village was built in New Lebanon, New York
New Lebanon, New York
New Lebanon is a town in Columbia County, New York, U.S., southeast of Albany. In 1910, 1,378 people lived in New Lebanon, New York. The population was 2,454 at the 2000 census.The town of New Lebanon is in the northeast part of Columbia County...
at the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society
Mount Lebanon Shaker Society
Mount Lebanon Shaker Society, also known as New Lebanon Shaker Society, was a communal settlement of Shakers in New Lebanon, New York. The early Shaker Ministry, including Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright, the architects of Shakers' gender-balanced government, lived there.Isaac N. Youngs, the...
. The other 18 communities were built in Maine, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, New York, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Strict believers in celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
, Shakers maintained their numbers through conversion and adoption of orphans. The group reached maximum size of about 6,000 full members in 1840, but as of December 2009 had only three members left.
Sabbathday Lake
The Shaker settlement at Sabbathday Lake was established in 1782, 1783 or 1793 and was then known as Thompson's Pond Plantation by a group of Shaker missionariesMissionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
. The community grew to over two hundred members in less than a year. Its location in Cumberland County
Cumberland County, Maine
Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 281,674. Its county seat is Portland, and is the most populous of the sixteen Maine counties, as well as the most affluent. Cumberland County has the deepest and second largest body of water in the...
, Maine, made it the most northern and eastern of all the Shaker communes. The Sabbathday Lake community grew to a size of 1900 acres (768.9 ha) with 26 large buildings by 1850. Buildings on the grounds included the meetinghouse, the Brethren's Shop which still holds a working blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shop and woodworking operation. A large Central Dwelling House was built in 1883 or 1884. The Shakers strived to be entirely self-sufficient. They built a mill and farm that enabled them to sell produce and commercial goods to the outside world. In 1823 there were about 150 members at the Sabbathday Lake community. Numbers diminished from there over the years to the three remaining as of 2009. Membership to the community is still open, and occasionally "novices" will explore joining the society.
As of 2006, the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village has 14 working buildings. Including the Central Dwelling House which houses the Shaker Sisters. The Central Dwelling House is also home to a music room, chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
and large dining room
Dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level...
. The community still holds regular Public Meetings (worship services) on Sundays in the 1794 meetinghouse. Other buildings with historical significance are the Shaker Library, the Cart and Carriage Shed, Ox Barn, The Girl's Shop, Herb House, Brooder House, Wood House, a garage built in 1910 for the group's first car, stable, Summer House and the Laundry building. The village, which attracts up to 10,000 visitors a year, has been open to the public since 1931, when the Shaker Museum and Library was established.
This Museum is the largest repository of Maine Shaker culture. Examples of furniture, oval boxes, woodenware, metal and tin wares, technology and tools, "fancy" sales goods, costume and textiles, visual arts, and herbal and medicinal products are among the 13,000 artifacts currently part of the Sabbathday Lake collection. The collection represents every Shaker Community known to have existed, special emphasis has been placed upon preserving the heritage of the Maine Shaker Communities, including Sabbathday Lake, Poland Hill, Gorham
Gorham, Maine
Gorham is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 16,381 at the 2010 census. In addition to an urban village center known as Gorham Village or simply "the Village," the town also encompasses a number of smaller, unincorporated villages and hamlets with distinct...
, and Alfred
Alfred, Maine
Alfred is a town in York County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 2,497. Alfred is the county seat of York County and home to part of the Massabesic Experimental Forest...
.
Present and future
The fact that the Shakers are celibateCelibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
causes problems for the future of the organization. Many prospective members find the celibacy a major drawback and it keeps them from joining. New members cannot be born into the group and must join from the outside. The members have taken steps to ensure that Sabbathday Lake Village will remain largely unchanged once the final members of the group pass away.
The 1643 acres (664.9 ha) of land owned by the Shakers in both Cumberland County
Cumberland County, Maine
Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 281,674. Its county seat is Portland, and is the most populous of the sixteen Maine counties, as well as the most affluent. Cumberland County has the deepest and second largest body of water in the...
and Androscoggin County
Androscoggin County, Maine
Androscoggin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the county's population was 107,702. Its county seat is Auburn...
include Sabbathday Lake which is 340 acres (137.6 ha) with 5000 feet (1,524 m) of undeveloped shoreline with a beach that is open to the public and the 150 acres (60.7 ha) Shaker Bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
. Other dismantled Shaker villages were converted into housing lots or prisons. In order to avoid this fate at Sabbathday Lake the Shakers took some preventative measures in 2001.
Preservation and conservation easement
Easement
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it.Easements are helpful for providing pathways across two or more pieces of property or allowing an individual to fish in a privately owned pond...
s were sold to Maine Preservation and the New England Forestry Foundation. The two groups with the help of eight other public and non-profit agencies are working to cover cost of the easements. The village and surrounding farmland and forests will be protected from development. Brother Arnold Hadd was quoted by the Boston Globe in 2006. "We can't put up a Wal*Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
. Or a housing development. The land always has to remain for agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and forest purposes."
The selling of future development rights has enabled the Shakers to restore and maintain the structures of the village. They also make money by leasing 29 cottage lots on Sabbathday Lake, leasing 1000 acres (404.7 ha) of forests, 30 acres (12.1 ha) of farmland and orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
s and a gravel pit
Gravel pit
Gravel pit is the term for an open cast working for extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may fill naturally with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either as nature reserves, or as amenity areas...
. Other income sources include production of fancy goods, basket making
Basket weaving
Basket weaving is the process of weaving unspun vegetable fibres into a basket or other similar form. People and artists who weave baskets are called basketmakers and basket weavers.Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials•anything that will bend and form a shape...
, weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
, printing, and the manufacturing of some small woodenware. Their operation is run with the help of six year-round employees and six seasonal employees.
Further Reading
- Lauber, Jeannine. Chosen Faith, Chosen Land: The Untold Story of America’s 21st-Century Shakers. Downeast/Story Productions, 2009.
- Ross, Nan Thayer. Purple on Silk: A Shaker Eldress and her Dye Journal. New Gloucester, Maine: United Society of Shakers, 2003. Biography of Hester Ann Adams (1817-1888) and dye recipes.
- Shaker Manifesto. The Shakers' monthly magazine, 1871-1899.
- Skees, Suzanne. God Among the Shakers. New York: Hyperion, 1998. Account by a twentieth-century visitor to Sabbathday Lake.
- Stein, Stephen J. The Shaker Experience in America: A History of the United Society of Believers. New Haven: Yale, 1992. HIstorical overview of the sect with some information on Sabbathday Lake.