Alfred Shaker Historic District

John Cotton, having been inspired by Mother Ann Lee on May 26, 1783, became Maine's first Shaker member.[3] That year members of the Shaker Church settled on the hill near Massabesic (now Shaker) Pond. Others dubbed them the "Merry Dancers," because of their ecstatic worship. "They were," as historian George J. Varney writes, "at this time fanatical in religion and intemperate in their indulgences." [4]

The Shaker village was formally organized in 1793 when a meetinghouse was built.[3] The community practiced the religion's celibate communal living, with equality among the sexes and races. They built plain architecture and furniture, honest expressions of their faith. At the movement's height in the 1840s, Shakers operated 19 utopian communities scattered from Maine to Kentucky, and as far west as Indiana.[5]

Each of those communities was administratively organized within an area bishopric, and Alfred was the home of the Maine bishopric elders and eldresses, who traveled regularly between Alfred, Poland Hill, and New Gloucester to oversee those villages' elders and eldresses. In 1848, the Alfred, Maine bishopric ministry included Elder Joseph Brackett and Eldress Rebecca Hodgdon, and their assistants Otis Sawyer and Deborah Fuller.[6] Elder Joseph Brackett is attributed by many Shaker accounts to have written the famous 1848 Shaker dancing song, Simple Gifts.[3][5] In 1880, the Maine ministry consisted of Elder Otis Sawyer and Eldress Hester Ann Adams, assisted by Mary Gillespie and John Vance.[7]

Hundreds of people lived at the 300-acre Shaker village on both sides of Shaker Hill Road, which included a school, gardens, orchards, a grist and saw mill, farm land, barns, a dairy and shops. They made brooms, brushes, woven cloth, woodenware, spinning wheels, horsehair sieves, oval carriers and fancy goods. They reaped seeds and herbs and made herbal medicines. Key intentions among the Shakers were to live a simple life in harmony, respect nature, and produce well-made or cared for agricultural or material products.[8][9] The village made a number of goods and products and was noted for "spiritualistic healing of the sick," but the daily operations were difficult to manage and the village was not economically successful due to the competition of manufactured goods.[3]

By the end of the nineteenth century, the community consisted mainly of devoted women and the membership dwindled as members died. In 1920, a revival was led by Harriet Coolbroth and Mary Ann Walker to bolster the number of members, which resulted in a fervent community for several years.[10]

In March 1931[3] the number of Shakers at Alfred had dwindled and the remaining individuals moved to the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village.[11][9] The Alfred Shaker Historic District is preserved and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001.[1] Only Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester survives under the control of the last few Shakers. Some former communities operate today as museums because, like Alfred Shaker Village, they closed when the congregation dwindled.[12][13][14]

Artist Joshua Bussell was long a resident of the Alfred community.[15]

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  Historic buildings, Alfred Shaker Village, Maine, c. 1880
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  Historic building, Alfred Shaker Village, Maine, c. 1880

The Alfred Shaker Museum, located in a gatehouse of the previous Shaker village, was founded by local residents who had organized the Friends of Alfred Shaker Museum to preserve the Shaker heritage within the community. Within the renovated Carriage House is a library, shop and the museum that conducts periodic craft workshops, events and exhibits.[3][9]