Enfield Shakers Historic District (Connecticut)

The Enfield Shakers Historic District encompasses some of the surviving remnants of a former Shaker community in Enfield, Connecticut. Founded in the 1780s, the Enfield Shaker community remained active until 1917. The surviving buildings of their once large community complexes are located in and around Taylor Road in northeastern Enfield, and were listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The listing included 15 contributing buildings and one contributing site.[1]

Not to be confused with the Enfield Shaker Museum and its Enfield Shaker Historic District in Enfield, New Hampshire.

Enfield Shakers Historic District
Enfield Shakers Historic District (Connecticut) is located in Connecticut
Enfield Shakers Historic District (Connecticut)
Enfield Shakers Historic District (Connecticut) is located in the United States
Enfield Shakers Historic District (Connecticut)
LocationShaker, Taylor and Cybulski Rds., Enfield, Connecticut
Coordinates42°0′42″N 72°30′57″W
Area110 acres (45 ha)
Built1827 (1827)
NRHP reference No.79002663[1]
Added to NRHPMay 21, 1979
Shaker community
CommunityEnfield Shaker Village (Connecticut)[2]
Dates1792-1917
BishopricHancock
Spiritual nameCity of Union
FamiliesChurch, North, South, East, West
Maximum population215 in 1850
Shakers
Topics
Notable people
Founders

Other members

  • Shaker members

History

The Enfield Shaker community was the only Shaker settlement in Connecticut (others were in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky) and was significant for its garden-seed business. The Enfield settlement, was founded in the 1780s, and lasted until 1917. There were three distinct centers of development, called "families" by the Shakers.[3] In 1930, 1600 acres of the former settlement were purchased by the State of Connecticut to esablish a new prison farm[3]; eventually becoming the state's largest prison complex.

The district included all 15 buildings that survive, out of about six times as many existing in 1917. In 1978, the surviving buildings include a meetinghouse, a large brick residence, an ice house, five barns, a sawmill, a slaughterhouse, a laundry, and several workshops, in three village-like clusters. Most of these buildings date to the period 1830–60, when the community was at its height. These buildings, as well as a portion of Shaker-developed landscape are located mainly on the west side of Taylor Road between Moody Road in the south and Sandhill Road to the north. A few buildings are on Cybulski Road north of Moody, nearly surrounded by modern development.[3]

  • Enfield community, c. 1910
    Enfield community, c. 1910

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Stephen J. Paterwic. The A to Z of the Shakers. Scarecrow Press; 28 September 2009. ISBN 978-0-8108-7056-7. p. 63.
  3. Bruce Clouette (June 21, 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Enfield Shakers Historic District". National Park Service. and accompanying 14 photos from 1976-78

[1]

  1. Connecticut State Library, Records of the Department of Corrections 1827-1960, page 3 https://ctstatelibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/RG-017.pdf
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