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Enfield Shaker Historic District
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Stereographic card c. 1880
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| Location: | SR 4A, Enfield, New Hampshire |
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| Area: | 1,235 acres (500 ha) |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 79000198[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | November 07, 1979 |
The Enfield Shaker Museum is a museum and historic site in Enfield, New Hampshire, USA. It is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination, who lived on the site from 1793 to 1923. The museum features exhibitions, artifacts, eight Shaker buildings and restored Shaker gardens. It is located in a valley between Mount Assurance and Mascoma Lake in Enfield.[2][3]
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The Shakers, or United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, settled on the site in 1793.[4] The site was divided into three smaller organizations, or families: the Church Family, the North Family and the Second (or South) Family. At its peak, there were approximately 300 Shakers living on the site. The site covered over 3,000 acres (1,200 ha).
Like other Shaker communities, the Enfield Shaker village declined throughout the second half of the 19th century. By 1920, there were fewer than a dozen Shakers remaining. In 1923, they closed the Enfield Shaker village and moved to the Canterbury community in central New Hampshire.
In 1927, the site was sold to the Missionaries of La Salette, who converted the site into a seminary, school and conference site. The La Salettes built a neo-classical revival chapel for worship services, which is now part of the museum and open to visitors.
The Missionaries of La Salette sold the site in 1985, at which time a large number of private homes were built on the site. Since 1986, the Enfield Shaker Museum has worked to preserve the Shaker heritage of the site without neglecting the 20th century history of the village. The museum is open 7 days a week, offering tours of the site, and invites visitors to stay overnight in the original Shaker bedrooms.
The site is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as the Enfield Shaker Historic District.
The Great Stone Dwelling houses the gift shop and the primary exhibition space. The dwelling was the largest Shaker dwelling house ever built, and was constructed 1837-1841. The building was designed to house over 150 Shakers. The building was designed by Ammi Burnham Young, designer of the second state capitol in Vermont and later the first supervising architect for the United States Treasury. The granite stonework on the exterior and the slate roof were constructed by stonemasons from Boston. The Shaker brothers constructed the rest of the building themselves.