Hancock Shaker Village
add photosNovember 10 through mid-April, 2009
Learn about the Shakers as a guide takes you through the 1830's Brick Dwelling and the 1826 Round Stone Barn.Tours are available at 1:00 PM each weekday and weekends at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM, and admission to the Village is only by Guided Tour during Guided Tour Season. It is best to call in advance for tour times, as weather conditions may affect the schedule.
Access to Village is by Guided Tour only, at scheduled times.
Adults - $12.50
Youth ages 13 - 17 - $4
Children 12 and under - FREE
Hancock Shaker Village members - FREE
3 Reviews for Hancock Shaker Village
0 families found this helpful
"Fun with the Family"
Our culture reveres the Shakers for their simple, beautiful furniture and building designs. What most people don’t know is that their crafting skill was a direct expresion of their religious devotion to express their reverence to God by making their environment a “heaven on earth.” Hancock Shaker Village was the third of eighteen Shaker communities established in the United States. Its heyday was in 1830, just after the round stone barn was completed, when 300 Shakers lived, worked, and worshiped here. They farmed, sold seeds and herbs, manufactured medicines, and made and sold all types of goods, from boxes to textiles. Eventually their population dwindled, and in 1960 the Shaker ministry in Canterbury, New Hampshire, sold the Hancock property to a group of Pittsfield residents. The following year they opened Hancock Shaker Village as a museum. It’s best to come at self-guided season, when the entire property consisting of twenty restored buildings is open to the public. Kids learn how the Shakers spun wool, made furniture, cooked, and did such crafts as basket making. The staff is knowledgeable, dedicated, and enthusiastic; tour guides welcome and encourage questions. The kids really enjoy the reenactment of a Shaker classroom with a costumed staff person acting as the Shaker schoolteacher, Shaker suppers during fall weekends, and the Discovery Room, with hands-on activities such as looms for weaving, spinning wheels, and a dress-up corner. Classes are offered in organic gardening and oval box making (prior registration required). The Village cafe is open during the season.
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"Peaceful Simiplicity"
A well preserved Shaker Village with phenomenal woodworking on display in the buildings. The Shaker way of life is an outward expression of their values and beliefs - a good teaching moment. Also very interesting for the budding historian or architect. Ideal for children 8 and up but also for adults.
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1 family found this helpful
"Great historical fun"
It's a great place to learn about a different way of life and see the great history of the Shakers.
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