Author: Shaker Village

Pony Meyer, Program Specialist
Laura Baird, Stewardship Manager

Shaker Village boasts 2,000 acres of Nature Preserve full of educational potential. We host a variety of environmental education opportunities through our discovery treks and seasonal guided hikes; however, part of the challenge in harnessing this potential for larger school groups is access. Recently, we have started to expand our environmental education field trip offerings by improving access to natural areas closer to the Village center. To do this, we secured an 18-month grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to fund pond restoration, habitat improvement and environmental education opportunities in a specific project area.  

Learn more about school programs at Shaker Village here.  

NFWF Five Star & Urban Waters Restoration Program Grant

In Fall 2022, we received a Five Star & Urban Waters Restoration Program Grant from the NFWF. This grant funded habitat improvement, pond restoration and environmental education in a 20-acre area of early successional forest and wetland habitat.

This upland drainage includes three historic farm ponds, the largest of which was built in 1837 and is a 2.5-acre pond stocked for catch-and-release fishing. The Shakers called this pond the “Big Pond” or “West Pond.” Historically, it was an important source of water and ice for the Shakers, especially during periods of drought. The smallest pond in the project area is roughly 0.2 acres and catches water released from an on-site wastewater treatment facility. The project also includes the small stream that connects these ponds and the remaining length of this drainage until it connects to a tributary of Shaker Creek, which drains into the Kentucky River after approximately 4.5 miles.

Restoration and Habitat Improvement

For habitat improvement, the project focuses on the removal of invasive plants such as bush honeysuckle and garlic mustard as well as replanting native species selected to support birds and pollinators. Both the Preserve and Program departments, as well as community volunteers and Mercer County students have played an integral part in this stewardship.

Upland streams, headwaters and wetlands are considered priority habitats in Kentucky’s State Wildlife Action Plan and many of the birds who utilize this habitat are considered priority species in this area of the state. This project builds upon previous work completed on property to improve the habitat and the quality of the watershed. Since 2009, more than 1,000 acres of surrounding fields at Pleasant Hill have been converted from modern farmland to native shortgrass prairies and managed for grassland bird diversity. 

Click here to learn more information on the land conservation efforts in the Preserve at Shaker Village.

Environmental Education Programs for Mercer County Students

NFWF also funded the development of two environmental education programs in this project area specifically for students in Mercer County, Kentucky:

• Pond Restoration, Habitat Improvement, and the Importance of Native Plants
• Water Quality Testing in Shaker Village Ponds

Over the winter of 2022-2023, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill’s Program and Preserve teams developed these stewardship programs; ran a teacher focus group for participating teachers; and cleared a temporary hiking path through the area. In the spring of 2023, we piloted and launched the two new programs for grades 3-12. We ran 11 programs with nine different teachers and provided programming for 174 students! Students from Burgin Independent and Mercery County High School used a hands-on 3D model to explore how watersheds work and the impact of possible pollutants. Hiking a little over a mile through the project area, students also performed water quality testing in two Shaker Village ponds and planted native trees/shrubs in riparian areas. Students learned how Best Management Practices like planting native plants and vegetation buffers near our waterways help mitigate non-point source pollution.

Students planted a variety of bareroot native trees and shrubs including Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), Common Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum), Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum), American Hazelnut (Corylus Americana), Eastern serviceberry (A.canadensis), American witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), and Common Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). Students also placed tree protectors (blue tubes pictured) to protect the young trees from the elements and from foraging deer.

What’s Next?

Beginning this fall, the Program team will continue running these two stewardship programs where students from Mercer County will have the opportunity to test water quality, plant native plants and explore the Nature Preserve. The Preserve team will continue working on establishing the educational foot trail while the Program team will also be working on interpretive signage in this area including information on the Shaker Village wastewater treatment plant. Looking to 2024, Shaker Village plans to offer these two programs as educational field trips for students in our state and region. Please keep an eye on our school programs webpage as we continue to expand our environmental education offerings in this project area and beyond!

Shannon Timmons, Annual Passholder Program Coordinator

As we enter the month of November, many of us turn our thoughts to Thanksgiving, and what we are grateful for from the past year. At Shaker Village we have many things to be grateful for, and the support of our 3,300 Annual Passholders is at the top of the list.

Annual Pass fees support 3,000 acres of discovery, new programs and educational opportunities for our guests. Pass fees also go towards the preservation and maintenance of our pristine grounds which includes 37 miles of walking and riding trails, and 34 original 19^th Century buildings.

The Annual Pass Program has incredible value! We have three different passes and a variety of ways to customize them to fit your needs. The Village Pass, Equestrian Pass and Photography Pass all include tremendous benefits:

• Unlimited free admission to The Historic Centre, The Farm and The Preserve.
• Unlimited free hayrides and non-motorized boat launches from Shaker Landing (seasonal).
• Free admission to signature events like our Easter Egg Hunt, Trick-or-Treat, Harvest Fest, Vintage Dads Day and Craft Fair.
• 10% discount on overnight rooms in The Inn.
• 10% discount on meals at The Trustees’ Table.
• 10% discount on purchases at The Shops.
• Additional passholder-only discounts several times a year across the Village.
• Discounts on Discovery Treks and Workshops.
• Insider emails and exclusive promotions.

The Village Pass is designed for singles, couples, and families who enjoy strolling the trails, picnics at the pond, exploring the history of our original Shaker structures, or just simply soaking in the peace and tranquility of the property.

The Equestrian Pass is prefect for equine aficionados who bring their horses and explore our 30 miles of riding trails. This pass also includes free stall use and two complementary admission passes to The Historic Centre to share with family and friends.

If you are a photographer, the Photography Pass is for you! Your clients receive free admission to the property during their photo session, and you won’t find a more beautiful location in Central Kentucky for outdoor photo shoots.

Not only is an annual pass a wonderful gift for yourself, it makes the perfect gift for the holidays. Giving the beauty, history and hospitality of Shaker Village is a unique way to treat your loved ones. So, as we approach the season of giving and of thanksgiving, we say THANK YOU to our annual passholder supporters. For those of you who are interested in joining our passholder family, please visit our website for more information and to sign up.

If you’d like to give the gift of an annual pass, or have any questions about the program, please contact Shannon Timmons, Annual Passholder Program Coordinator at [email protected], or 859.734.1553.

A few months ago, Shaker Village hosted Little English, a female-led Lexington, Ky. based children’s clothing line, for their fall collection photoshoot. The Village was a perfect fit for the countryside chic vibe they were looking to capture. We enjoyed having them so much that we invited them to be a guest blogger this month. Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the shoot and visit littleenglish.com to shop the collection, and receive 10% off through October 31, 2022 by using code: SHAKERVILLAGE10 at checkout.

Guest Blogger Siobhan O’Neill, Little English Affiliate Marketing Specialist

Established in 1805, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill was once the third largest Shaker community in the US. This landmark destination includes 3,000 acres of discovery in the spirit of the Kentucky Shakers and is home to the country’s largest private collection of original 19^th century buildings. Shaker Village’s rich history, beautiful countryside, and proud roots were a few reasons Little English decided to host our fall 2022 photoshoot at this destination, just outside of Lexington, in Harrodsburg, KY.

Like Shaker Village, Little English values tradition. Shaker Village’s mission is to inspire generations through discovery, by sharing the legacies of the Kentucky Shakers. Similarly, Little English works to preserve tradition in clothing by curating classic and high-quality children’s clothing that celebrates childhood. The emphasis Shaker Village places on nature preservation, history, and tradition made it an easy location choice for Little English.

One of the historically significant and well-preserved landmarks of Shaker Village are the dry-stack stone fences that can be seen when you first drive onto the property. Pleasant Hill once had more than 40 miles of dry-stack stone fences. Today, they repair and maintain 25 miles of these fences famous to the Bluegrass. Like most of the stone fences in the Bluegrass region, the ones that surround Pleasant Hill were built by Irish and African-American stone masons (learn more about their history here). Little English featured these stone fences in our photoshoot because of their beautiful and unique texture and historical significance to Kentucky.

The display wagon, used in Little English’s photoshoot, is housed in the Scale House. Built in 1875, the Scale House was used as a weigh station for heavy loads of cargo used by the Shakers. The wagon you see today is a reproduction of the Pennebaker Brother’s original wagon used to haul coal, brick, and other supplies on the property.

Utilized as a location for retreats, meetings and reunions today, the West Lot Dwelling was once a gathering house for apprentice members of the Shaker community. In the late 19^th century, it became a home for Swedish immigrants and later turned into the Pennebaker Home for Girls. Little English did the majority of our shooting in and around the West Lot Dwelling because of the beautiful interiors, grand porches, and lush outdoor areas.

Little English was so grateful for the opportunity to partner with Shaker Village on our fall 2022 photoshoot. The 3,000 acres of rolling hills and 19^th century buildings provided endless shooting opportunities to capture Shaker Village’s beauty and highlight the mood and inspiration behind our fall collection.

Fall is a great time to discover all that Shaker Village has to offer with special events, daily tours, a seed-to-table restaurant and overnight stays at the historic Inn. To learn more or to plan your getaway to Shaker Village visit shakervillageky.org.

Maggie McAdams, Education and Engagement Manager & Laura Webb, Program Team Coordinator

The Shakers, as a religious communal society, were dedicated to creating their own version of heaven-on-earth. They were an egalitarian society, practicing gender equality in their leadership structure and in their access to resources, and placed an emphasis on the betterment of community members to be beings worthy of the heavenly sphere. However, education— and more specifically literacy — was not always a top priority for this society.

From its earliest days, the Shaker faith was passed on and expressed as an oral tradition. Driven in part by the fact that Mother Ann Lee was illiterate, the Shakers were content to carry on their faith through spoken word and other expression. However, after Mother Ann passed away in 1784, just 10 years after bringing the faith to America, this changed drastically. With the charismatic leader gone, her followers, worried about what was to be lost, started to codify the faith by writing everything down and disseminating the information to the various Shaker communities. As part of these efforts, Joseph Meacham, a Shaker Leader in New Lebanon, NY, wrote down his views on education in the 1790s, claiming:

“Some are Created and Called to be more useful in things spiritual others in things temporal – […] but to Prepare them to be useful in the improvement of the talents which God hath given […] it would not be prudent for them to labour to make any great distinction in relation to their abilities and Callings…”

In this, Meacham is advocating for education for all to prepare them to be an informed and active citizenry. He is making the argument that education is a tool that empowers individuals to become productive members of the society.

By 1808, a school was established for the children at New Lebanon that focused primarily on spelling and language, and by 1832, the Shakers selected a superintendent to oversee all Shaker community schools. This new superintendent began to set standards for education in Shaker communities, and though there was always variation within individual communities, they began to establish a formal curriculum. Throughout the nineteenth century the curriculum was expanded from just reading and writing to include instruction in astronomy, algebra, music, and chemistry, among many other subjects. In the late nineteenth century, the Canterbury Shaker community produced a list referred to as the Classification of Classics for grades one through eight. Familiar titles such as Merchant of Venice and King Arthur were mixed in with books like From Wool to Cloth and The Story of Wheat. With this full list of reading material, it appears that the value and diverse nature of Shaker education came a long way over the course of the nineteenth century.

While education focused mainly on children in Shaker communities with the Children’s Orders, often called School Families, acting as school houses, all individuals were taught the fundamental skills of reading and writing upon joining.

Evidence of the importance they placed on education and literacy can be found throughout the Shaker’s written record. The sheer volume of journals and letters speak to their impressive mastery of the written word. Both men and women were called upon to keep journals for the various families.  In this excerpt from the East Family Deaconess’s Journal, written during the Civil War on October 11 and 12, 1862, you can see this mastery for yourself:

“Such as day as this has never been witnessed on Pleasant Hill before and God grant that it never may again…How awful to think of a wicked and bloody battle occurring in the midst of Zion on earth! Whoever would have thought that this secluded and sacred spot of truly Pleasant Hill, would ever have been surrounded by the embattled legions within hearing distance in almost every direction from this central point and the waring hosts traversing our streets and premises to and fro day and night with their weapons of death, guns, swords, and bayonets gleaming in the sun…Where the clash of arms and din of war proclaims the raging thirst for blood, power and glory, that fills the ambitious human (Alias inhuman) breast! And yet that we should have escaped with comparatively so little damage clearly implies, that whatever of evil may be among us (and God knows there is enough,) there is still a spark of light, a remnant of faith, and a seed of truth, and a righteous few in the heritage of God which he holds in the bottom of his hand…”

As an organization, and as scholars, we are lucky that so many Shaker journals were preserved for us to reference today, and so grateful that the Shakers placed such importance on education! Visit Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill to learn more about Shaker education in our Back to School: Shaker Children’s Orders daily program.