Kentucky Trip: Shaker Village

This is a continuation from yesterday's blog of our trip toward Indiana.  That post can be found

HERE

I mentioned that we met new friends while at Cumberland Falls, the Ashbys.  Knowing we were headed to Shaker Village, they insisted we have lunch at Boone Tavern in Boone, Kentucky on our way. 

It was only a wee bit out of our way, but so worth the detour.  Boone is a college town and the school is much like The School of The Ozarks in Branson, where students can attend tuition free if they work.  It is a lovely town and Boone Tavern is such a lovely place with delicious food, served by the friendliest of young people.

When we first thought about including Shaker Village in our itinerary as we made our way to Indiana, we knew very little about the place.  My limited research did confirm however, that it was a place we would enjoy spending some time.

 And it was!

This will definitely be a picture and information overload, but I don't know how else to share this fascinating place with you and keep a record for myself as well.

Pleasant Hill Shaker Village

(Link)

Shaker Village is now a non-profit organization that opened its doors to tourists in 1968.  Today, they still welcome thousands of visitors there to honor the legacy of the Kentucky Shakers who blazed their own trail more than 200 years ago.

The buildings are all original and have been restored to pristine condition that reflects the quiet life of this fascinating part of our history.

Who were the Shakers?

They were the largest and best-known communal society in America in the 19th century.  The movement began in New York shortly before the American Revolution and by the 1840's there were nearly 3,500 Shakers. In 1805, a group came to central Kentucky and established a village on donated land they named Pleasant Hill.

Their way of life was a peaceful one.  They were celibate, believed in equality of race and sex, and freedom from prejudice.  Their lives were lived based on simplicity and perfection and this is reflected in their fine designs and craftsmanship.  The Shaker name is still synonymous with excellence.

Although the population at Pleasant Hill peaked at almost 500 in the 1820's, they thrived well into the mid 1860's until the Industrial Revolution led to their decline.  The last remaining few woman lived here until the early 1900's.

The society was divided into five communal families, numbering from 50 to 100 members.  Every family had its own dwelling house, shops, barns, gardens, and orchards.

Kentucky Shakers no longer exist, yet their lasting influence is a legacy to all who visit this beautiful place.

The family dwellings were named according to their location.  This is the East Family Dwelling and our home for two nights.  It was built in 1827 and housed at one time as many 100 men and women.  We happened to be the only bodies in that big otherwise empty building our first night.

Notice the two doors.  Men entered in the left and women in the right.  Normally and in all the other buildings, this was reversed and the reason for it in this dwelling is an interesting story.

Once inside there was an open hallway.  The men's rooms were on the left and the women on the right.  And ne'er the twain shall meet!  Our room was the first on the right (unseen).

The rooms were spacious and very clean.  The indoor plumbing was up-to-date and quite adequate.

All of the door hardware is original.

We found these lights in all the buildings and learned that when candles and oil lamps were the only source of light, the Shakers designed this so that it could be raised or lowered on pegs depending on how much light they needed.  So ingenious!

Our view was of the gardens and farm and so pretty.  The walls were two feet thick.

This was the kitchen for the East Family and most cooking was done in this huge fireplace.

Notice the chair?  We learned that the Shakers believed that cleanliness was next to Godliness, so they hung their chairs on pegs for reasons other than being able to scrub the floors.  They were hung upside down in order that the dust would settle on the bottom of the seat instead of the top.  How smart was that!

I climbed to the tiny fourth floor to get this picture overlooking the grounds surrounding the East Family Dwelling.  The yellow building was their Wash House where all washing, drying and ironing took place.  This is also where the women of the East family would have bathed.

This building was the East Family Sister's Shop where they would have done all their own sewing, spinning and weaving, and other work that needed to be done for the large family.

The sisters tended to hundreds of silk worms and cocoons housed on the second floor, from which they harvested fine quality silk thread.

This would have been the East Family Brethren's Shop where they made furniture and other wooden objects needed throughout the Village.

When the Shakers lived here, this would have been a main road.  It was the only road to get from Nashville to Louisville at that time, so very, very busy.  The "World" (people other than Shakers) could enter the buildings on the left side only.  Today, it is a walking path to get to the main buildings on the grounds.

 

This building, The Trustees' Office would have been one of the buildings the World could have entered.  The Trustees were the legal and financial leaders of the community, and this held their offices.  It also provided overnight lodging for an non-Shaker who came to visit.

It is now called The Trustee's Table because it houses the restaurant.  All food served here is "from farm to table' and delicious.

Notice the ceiling in this picture.

One of the highlights of the Trustees' Building is the magnificent twin spiral staircases on each side of the entry hall that winds up three floors.  It was designed by one of the residents, Micajah Burnett.  The left would have been for the men and right for women.

The small building on the left was the Post Office.  It is now a gift shop.

Another of the buildings that would have been open to the World was The Meeting House.

Again, notice the two doors.  But, once inside both men and women worshiped together.

And this is how the Shakers got their name.

 Our guide explained that the Shakers' worship was very charismatic and they would get rather rambunctious as they danced to they hymns, even to the point of fainting.  Outsiders began calling the early worshipers "shakers" because they would literally shake the buildings.

Dick was very fascinated with the written music.

Because of all the shaking, the outside walls of the building had to be doubly reinforced, so I went into the attic to check it out.  Sure enough it was constructed by hand with enormous beams and supports. 

While in the attic, I took a picture of the Centre Family Dwelling across the street that is undergoing restoration.

This is the largest building in the Village.  It's footprint is 6,000 sq. ft. but the total square footage is more than 21,000.  It has 100 windows, 70 doors and walls 2 ft. thick.

I think we will need to return when the work on this building is compete.

These are the Water House on left and the Brethren's Bath House on right.

Pleasant Hill was the first western Shaker village to have a public water system. Water was pumped by horse-power from a spring to the 19,000-gallon reservoir on the second floor of the water house. The water then was gravity-fed to the kitchens and wash houses in the Village.

Imagine the weight on these large stone columns and beams.

These poor Brethren depended on this one little stove to heat water and this space for bathing.

The West Family Dwelling was built in 1821.  Like the other Family Dwellings, it was used primarily for eating and sleeping.

All the work took place in other buildings.  The yellow building was the Wash House, the brick on the right was the Sister's Shop.  In between was the little Preserve Shop.

Preserves and canned goods were shipped all over the world at one time.  The village took advantage of the river and the well-traveled road to get their products shipped to buyers.

At one time, the Shakers owned 4,000 acres and it all was bordered by these amazing stone walls.  Skillfully constructed, they are still standing after 200 years.

After walking and touring the grounds and buildings, we wanted to see more of this beautiful place from a different vantage point.

  

This is the very same landing the Shakers used.

Here the Kentucky River is now a very quiet and flowing river with steep, scenic gorges and limestone outcroppings.  It wasn't always this quiet.  It was at one time a source of livelihood for the Pleasant Hill Shakers and expeditions ventured as far as New Orleans.  It also brought soldiers to the area during the Civil War.

Getting to and from the river was an adventure all its own.

This scenic roadbed was built in 1826 and is a 400-foot descent.  This sometimes harrowing, narrow one-way roadway takes you through rock formations between 400 and 450 million years old. 

The Shakers were known to evangelize where ever they went and one such example was a man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Being our home state, this caught our attention.

Our day ended with a delicious dinner at the Trustee's Table as we shared memories of the past three days and how gracious God is to allow us to see His amazing world.  We were also so grateful for the beautiful people He put in our path; the Ashbys, the tour guides who take their jobs so seriously and delight in sharing the history of this place, the friendly ladies who served us all our meals, and most of all the the pleasure of each others company.

But, God wasn't finished blessing us.

We arose to the most amazing sunrise and were so grateful we got to stay in the East Family Dwelling.

The day began on a Kentucky farm and ended at the home of our Indiana family.

Thank you God for this blessing.