Hancock Shaker Village facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Hancock Shaker Village
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The Round Barn
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Hancock, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1790 |
| NRHP reference No. | 68000037 |
| Added to NRHP | November 24, 1968 |
Hancock Shaker Village is a special historic site in Hancock and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It was once a busy community for a religious group called the Shakers. This village started in the 1780s and was officially organized in 1790. It was active until 1960.
Hancock Shaker Village was the third of 19 main Shaker villages built across New York, New England, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. For over 100 years, from 1790 to 1893, Hancock was a very important center for the Shakers. It oversaw other Shaker communities in Tyringham, Massachusetts, and Enfield, Connecticut.
In 1960, the Shakers closed the village. It was then bought by a local group who wanted to save it. Today, this group runs the property as an open-air museum. It was recognized as a National Historic Landmark District in 1968. This means it is a very important historical place in the United States.
Contents
Life in a Shaker Village
At its busiest, in the 1830s and 1840s, Hancock Shaker Village was home to about 300 Shakers. The village was divided into six main groups, called "families." These were the Church Family, Second Family, East Family, West Family, South Family, and North Family.
Each family had two men and two women who were leaders, called elders and eldresses. The entire Hancock community was guided by two elders and two eldresses. These leaders also looked after the Shaker communities in Tyringham, Massachusetts, and Enfield, Connecticut.
Within each family, deacons and deaconesses managed daily tasks and businesses. Later, those in charge of money and legal matters were called Trustees. The Shakers believed in living together and sharing everything.
History of the Shakers
How the Shakers Started
The Shaker religion began in Manchester, England, around 1747. The Shakers faced difficulties in England. So, a small group, led by Ann Lee, sailed to the New York colony in 1774. By 1776, they settled in Watervliet, New York, and started their first village.
In the late 1770s, many people in New York and Massachusetts became interested in the Shakers' beliefs. More and more people joined their faith. From 1780 to 1784, the Shakers traveled around the Northeast to share their message.
After their early leaders passed away, the Shaker movement was reorganized. New converts gathered into communal villages. In these villages, everyone shared all property. This was a key part of their way of life.
Forming the Hancock Community
Many farmers in New York and Massachusetts joined the Shaker faith in the 1780s. This included families like the Goodriches and Talcotts. People from nearby towns like New Lebanon, Hancock, and Pittsfield became Shakers.
These new members helped form the Hancock Shaker community. They believed in a simple, hardworking life dedicated to their faith.
Later Years of the Village
The Hancock Shakers mainly supported themselves through farming. Selling garden seeds was one of their most successful early businesses. They continued to buy land, and by the 1830s, they owned about 3,000 acres (12 square kilometers).
The Shaker movement reached its largest size in the 1840s. After that, the number of Shakers slowly decreased. Many young people moved to cities for jobs or headed west. By the early 1900s, only about 50 people lived in the village. Most of them were children.
The remaining Shakers sold off extra land, and some buildings were taken down. Finally, in 1960, the decision was made to close the village. The property and buildings were then sold.
People who visited the Hancock Shakers were very impressed. They saw how clean, neat, and well-kept everything was. They also admired the Shakers' smart ideas in farming, like their famous round barn. Visitors also loved the Shakers' products, such as their beautifully made boxes and garden seeds. The village was very successful, and the Shakers were respected by their neighbors.
Amazing Shaker Buildings
The 1826 Round Stone Barn
One of the most famous buildings at Hancock Shaker Village is the "Round Stone Barn," built in 1826. This barn was built in a circular shape for good reasons. It was designed to be very practical and efficient. It is one of the few round barns still standing in Massachusetts.
Inside the barn, there are four circular areas, like rings.
- The innermost ring helps with ventilation. This means it lets air move through. This airflow helps remove moisture from the hay. This prevents mold and stops the hay from catching fire on its own.
- The next ring out was where the hay was stored. Workers tossed hay down from an upper level. Wagons pulled by oxen could reach this level using an outdoor ramp. Because the barn was round, wagons could drive in, unload the hay, and then drive out without ever having to back up!
- The third ring was where the Shaker brothers walked. They would distribute hay from the storage ring to the cows.
- The fourth, outermost ring was where the cows stood. The barn could hold up to 70 cows at a time. The cows came to the barn twice a day to be milked. They stood in wooden stalls called stanchions. While the cows ate, the brothers milked them.
The floor of the outermost ring is split into two levels. The inner part is raised about 3 inches (76 mm). This kept the milk buckets from being on the same level as the manure, making things more sanitary. The Shakers also had a clever way to remove manure. About every four feet around the outer ring, there was a trapdoor. Workers could quickly scoop manure through these doors into a pit below the barn. Other workers would then take the manure from the pit to use as fertilizer in their gardens.
The 1830 Brick Dwelling
Another important building is the large red-brick dwelling built in 1830. This building served as a dormitory, or living space, for over one hundred Shaker brothers and sisters. Like the barn, this dwelling shows how successful the Shakers were. It also shows they valued space, fresh air, and modern conveniences. For example, they had water piped indoors! The dwelling was a great example of the comfortable life the Shaker society offered its members.
Today, visitors to Hancock Shaker Village can enjoy authentic Shaker meals in the dining room of the Brick Dwelling. Guests no longer have to sit separately by gender. However, the experience still feels real with Shaker songs, hymns, and the use of natural light and candles.
The dwelling also shows how men and women lived separately under one roof. Wide hallways separated the men's rooms from the women's rooms. There were separate doors and stairways for men and women. This meant that a sister never had to pass a brother when using these entrances. Men and women also ate at opposite ends of the dining room.
The dwelling had many features that were unusual for buildings of its time:
- Interior windows let light from outside rooms brighten otherwise dark stairwells.
- Built-in cabinets and drawers provided lots of storage.
- Dumb-waiters were used to move food and dishes between the kitchen downstairs and the dining room upstairs.
- There were many windows for light and fresh air.
- All the windows were set into the wall at an angle, not straight. This angle let in about 30 percent more light! This helped save on electricity and made the rooms feel brighter.
The Hancock Shaker Village Museum
In 1960, the Shaker community at Hancock closed. Its buildings and land were sold. The people who bought it formed a non-profit group called Hancock Shaker Village, Inc. Their goal was to save this historic site.
The museum opened on July 1, 1961. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1968. The museum's main goal is "to bring the Shaker story to life and preserve it for future generations."
More than 60,000 people visit the museum each year, usually between April and October. The museum has 20 historic buildings and over 22,000 artifacts. It also has large gardens, a working farm, and hiking trails. Visitors can watch craft demonstrations. Special events happen throughout the year, like "Baby Animals on the Shaker Farm" in the spring and a "Country Fair" in the fall.
Images for kids
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Brother Ricardo Belden making oval boxes in a workshop at Hancock in 1935
See also
