New Gloucester, Maine: The Last of the Shakers
About forty minutes from Portland, a small town called New Gloucester is home to the last remaining members of a famous and formerly widespread religious order — the Shakers.
The Shakers began as a nine-person group, led by Mother Ann Lee. They came to the United States from England in 1774, seeking a place to practice their religion in peace, and settled near Albany, New York. The Shakers were a unique religious group — extremely devout, they believed in strict celibacy, and lived together in communal settlements. To extend their numbers, they would adopt children from local orphanages into the sect. Throughout the 1800s, the Shaker movement expanded drastically. At one point, they had 19 settlements in the United States. Over the years, the Shaker community claimed over 200,000 individuals as members, at one time or another.
Photo by dbking
The Shakers are well known for their farming, building and craftsmanship skills. They are responsible for many inventions that have been integral to American culture, such as the circular saw, the clothespin, and the flat broom. Their furniture, which is generally made from wood and features simple, elegant, design, is regarded as some of the best in the world; today, many people pay thousands of dollars for an original Shaker-constructed chair or table. Though the Shaker community has had a significant influence on American society, the religious group is now close to extinction.
Today, there are only a few living Shakers in the world. They live together at a commune in New Gloucester, Maine, on Sabbathday Lake. As in the past, they do accept new converts, but no new members have joined for decades; the government now bans Shakers from adopting orphans into the commune. The Shakers in Maine live much the same way that Shakers in the past have — by working on their farm, making crafts, praying in private, and attending church services.
If you’re visiting Maine, you can stop by New Gloucester’s Shaker Museum to get a taste of their unique lifestyle and see some Shaker artifacts of the past. The Museum is home to 27 different exhibit rooms, where visitors can learn all about the Shakers’ religion, architecture, furniture design, music, culture, and more. The Museum also holds the Shakers’ original automatic washing machine, which uses granite blocks and steam propulsion — and weighs two and a half tons. The Museum also highlights the Shakers’ herbal gardens and candy kitchen. Guided 75 minute tours through the Museum’s grounds are available every half hour.
To live like a Shaker for a day, you can take part in one of the community’s organized activities. The Saturday craft workshop series features skills like making floorcloths, and the community also offers walks through the Shaker village grounds with a trained naturalist, who’ll point out the areas different plants and herbs. Visitors are also welcome to sit in on the Shakers’ Sunday church services.
Maine’s Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake is home to the last vestiges of a unique and important sect of society that’s almost disappeared — don’t miss this opportunity to see history in action before it’s gone for good.
Shaker Museum
707 Shaker Road
New Gloucester, ME 04260
(207) 926-4597
Open Memorial Day through Columbus Day,
Monday through Saturday
10 AM to 4:30 PM
Written by Kathy Hawkins on May 22, 2007
Filed Under Maine, Portland, People, History
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