Shaker Shots
We slipped away from Louisville yesterday and made our way down to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Mercer County. It's my partner's birthday, so a little rest and relaxation in the countryside seemed in order.
Shakertown, as we called the place growing up, is Kentucky's largest National Historic Landmark, with 34 buildings dating back to the early 1800s. The site was originally a religious community, with the Shakers living communally here for over a century before dying out in the early 20th century. Preservation efforts got going in the 1960s, and now you can stay in many of same buildings the Shakers lived and worked in. The Old Ministry's Shop (above) was built in 1813 and for the next few days we have it to ourselves.
Setting foot in Pleasant Hill is almost like stepping back in time. There's electricity now, but the pace of life is still closer to that in the Shakers' days. A nice quiet retreat from the gunfire and plane crashes of city life.
Since it was birthday today we mostly indulged in good food, good company, and a bit of shooting. Going to do plenty more exploring and shooting tomorrow and Thursday, but wanted to post a few of our meanderings today.
Congratulations @coloneljethro! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 165000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPYou have been manual curated and upvoted by @ecency
Did you know that @stresskiller is also a witness now ?
Woot, thanks!
Thank you!
I just love this. Always fascinated by the Shakers. Didn't know they were in Kentucky. Thanks, as always for an enlightening post.
They were a fascinating bunch. My parents brought us here growing up and I've kept coming back intermittently ever since. At one point I think there were actually two Shaker settlements in Kentucky, with another in South Union, but the Civil War was even more unkind to the South Union group. Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!
PS *Did you know there's a Shaker movie coming out? Think it is called 'The Testament of Ann Lee.'
I'll have to watch for that movie. I grew up in upstate NY, rural area. Always associated the Shakers with New York's history. Joseph Smith (Latter Day Saints) I believe also had his first visions here. Must be something in the water.
My family (paternal) also has strong conservative Protestant roots in NY reaching back to the Huguenots and Puritans. All of it, divergent religious movements, have been a part of my sense of the state since early childhood. My mother was Catholic, so, that sort of highlighted the religious history of the state. Quite a (not welcome) contrast.
Anyway, that's why I found your pictures so very interesting. I did read up on Shakers in Kentucky. Indeed there were two settlements.
Thanks again for an interesting post.
That looks like a good escape, since it's probably too cold to be outdoors by now
It definitely is, this time of year and in the middle of the workweek it is pretty well deserted, nice and quiet and peaceful. We got our first snow of the season on Monday as we were coming down here but it warmed back up into the 60s (~18C) for today and tomorrow. Probably won't get to wear shorts anymore this year but the weather isn't to hibernation conditions yet.