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Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

tep back in time and experience a simpler way of life, separated tion. Both Canterbury and Enfield villages ran gift shops and used the
from the ways of “The World” at one of these five Shaker living railroad to deliver “fancy goods” to be sold at the grand resort hotels.
Shistory museums to learn more about who the Shakers were, what Both became famous for their garden seeds, packaged in envelopes
they believed, and how they lived. printed in Canterbury.
Like most of the Shaker villages in America, the second half of the
“Above all, avoid rushing. Do all your work as though you had 1,000 19th century saw their membership erode as men, in particular, chose to
leave the community for life and work in the Big City, leaving behind a
years to live, and as you would if you knew you would die tomorrow,” said village of mostly women and children to work the fields and produce the
Mother Ann, and generations of Shakers sought to experience each merchandise the Shakers relied on to remain financially stable.
moment as the sacred gift of life that it is. Visit if you can in a spirit In the late 1950s, Bud Thompson, a singer looking for songs, visited
Canterbury and in 1959, the sisters invited him and his family to move
of contemplation. These were places where life and work were sacred, in to help them give tours and maintain the place. The next year, he
where souls found respite from the ragged edges of commercialism worked with them to establish the village as a museum. Thus, decades
and industrialism.” before the last sister died in 1992, a nonprofit was already dedicated to
– June Sprigg, scholar of American shaker culture

CANTERBURY SHAKER VILLAGE

Canterbury, NH

www.shakers.org

Canterbury Shaker Village, established
in 1792, was the seventh community
founded by the followers of Mother Ann
Lee. By the 1830s, the Shakers at
Canterbury were rich in buildings, land,
cash, wood lots, livestock, produce,
industry, community possessions, and
community skills. At its height in the
1850s, 300 people lived and worked in
over 100 buildings on this 3,000-acre
compound, where they made their living
from farming, selling seeds and herbs,
manufacturing medicines, and making
crafts, which they sold to the outside
world to supplement their income.
In addition to making and selling
furniture, baskets, boxes, and other house-
hold items for sale, the New Hampshire
Shakers in particular were known for
producing textiles and items of fashion.
The Canterbury Shakers, for example,
were known for making Shaker sweaters
for Harvard students (Enfield, NH made
Shaker sweaters for Dartmouth). The
“Dorothy Cloak,” a silk-lined hooded
cape designed by a Canterbury sister,
became a fashion must-have when Grover
Cleveland’s wife wore one to his inaugura-

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