Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village

Community Meetinghouse (1962)

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village is a shaker community located near New Gloucester and Poland , Maine in the United States . It is the last active Shaker community; in 2017 there were two active members. The congregation was founded in 1782, 1783, or 1793 at the height of the Shaker movement in the United States. The meeting house on Sabbathday Lake was built in 1794. The entire property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974 .

history

The shaker

The Shakers were originally located in England , in the home of their founder Ann Lee . They developed from the Quakers , whose origins date back to the 17th century. Both denominations believed that everyone could find God within themselves, without clergy or ritual, but the Shakers were more emotional and clearer in expressing their faith. The Shakers also believed that their lives should be devoted to the pursuit of perfection and the constant confession of their sins and attempts to end those sins.

In 1774, the Shakers emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies in search of religious freedom , where they founded 19 community settlements, which together provided home to around 20,000 converts during the following century . The first shaker settlement was established with the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society in New Lebanon , New York . The other 18 churches sprung up in Maine, New Hampshire , Massachusetts , Connecticut , New York, Kentucky , Ohio , Indiana , Georgia, and Florida . Because they were celibate , the Shakers were dependent on expanding their community through converts and adopting orphans; They reached their greatest number with around 6,000 members around 1840.

Sabbathday Lake

The Shaker Settlement on Sabbathday Lake was established in either 1782, 1783 or 1793 by a group of missionary Shakers on land that was then part of Thompson's Pond Plantation. In less than a year the number of parishioners grew to more than two hundred. Located in Cumberland County , Maine, it was the northernmost and easternmost of all the Shaker settlements. The settlement at Sabbathday Lake comprised 1,850 1,900 acre (760 hectare ) with 26 larger buildings on the grounds, including meeting house. A large community house was built in 1883 or 1884. The Shakers aspired to be completely self-sufficient. They built a mill and produced agricultural products that they sold to the outside world. In 1823 there were around 150 shakers on Sabbathday Lake. The number has decreased over the years, in 1974 there were only nine shakers in the community, in 2006 there were four, in 2009 three active shakers, and in 2017 two members, although membership is open. Occasionally “novices” get a taste of the life of the religious community.

Postcard view from the 1920s

In 2006 there were 14 functioning buildings in Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, including the Central Dwelling House, which is home to the Shaker Sisters. There is also a music room , the chapel , communal kitchen and the dining room. The congregation holds services on Sundays in the meeting house built in 1794. Other buildings of historical importance include 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 to house the community's first automobile, a stable , Summer House and the Wash House. The village, which attracts up to 10,000 visitors annually, has been open to the public since 1931 - when the Shaker Museum and Shaker Library were established.

This museum is the largest repository of Shaker culture in Maine. Here, Shaker furniture , wood products, fabricated metal products, technical equipment and tools, clothing and textiles and medical items from the daily life of the Shaker shown together about 13,000 exhibits. The collection covers all of the Shaker settlements that have ever existed, but the focus is on the legacy of the Shaker communities of Maine: Sabbathday Lake, Poland Hill , Gorham and Alfred .

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village was granted National Historic Landmark status on May 30, 1974 . On September 13 of the same year, it was listed as a Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places .

Present and Future

Barns in the Sabbathday Lake Village

The fact that the Shakers are celibate creates the greatest problems for the future of the faith community. Most of the possible new members will be kept out of it. New members cannot be born, but must come from outside. The members of the denomination have therefore taken precautions that the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village will remain largely unchanged when the last member has died.

The 1,643 acres of land owned by the Shakers in Cumberland County and adjacent Androscoggin County include Sabbathday Lake, which is 340 acres and 1,500 meters of undeveloped shoreline, including one of the Public bathing beach. Shaker villages that had to be abandoned were turned into building areas or prisons. To prevent this situation at Sabbathday Lake, the Shakers took preventive measures in 2001.

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b Richard Gonzales: One Of The Last Shakers Dies , NPR , Jan. 3, 2017; Retrieved February 4, 2017.

^ Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village . In: National Historic Landmark summary listing . National Park Service. Retrieved February 4, 2017.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Carol Ann Poh and Robert C. Post: National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Shaker Village / United Society of Believers ( English , PDF, 32 kB) National Park Service. January 7, 1974. Accessed on February 4, 2017. And: Accompanying 10 photos, exteriors and interiors, from 1969 and 1973 (PDF; 32 kB).

^ Clarke Garrett: Origins of the Shakers: From the New World to the Old World ( English ). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1987.

^ ^A ^b History of the United Society of Shakers ( English ) The United Society of Shakers. Retrieved August 26, 2010.

^ Thomas Hauffe: Design: An Illustrated Historical Overview . DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 1995.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village ( English ) National Park Service. Retrieved August 26, 2010.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Chase, Stacey: The Last Ones Standing ( English ) The Boston Globe. July 23, 2006. Retrieved August 28, 2010.

^ Ouimet, Leanne: Jeannine Lauber: Exploring the Modern Day Shakers ( English ) The Independent. December 8, 2009. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.

↑ ^a ^b The Shaker Village at Sabbathday Lake . The United Society of Shakers. Retrieved August 26, 2010.

↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Maine. National Park Service , accessed August 4, 2019.

↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed June 13, 2016