Visit Maine's Historic Shaker Village at Sabbathday Lake

On a sprawling hilltop farm in rural Maine, a community of believers carries on the faith and traditions of the Shakers, an influential sect that has all but vanished.

The United Society of Believers, was founded in England in the 1740s. Members were mockingly called "Shaking Quakers," and later just Shakers, because of the wild way in which they flailed about during worship. They emigrated to America just before the Revolution to avoid religious persecution, settling first in upstate New York.

By the Civil War era, there were nearly 20 Shaker communities scattered around the country, and some 6,000 followers. The Shakers were a communal society that believed in hard work, simplicity, and shared property. They did not believe in procreation and promoted celibacy, and this may have led to the eventual downfall of the religious sect. With no new members being born, and state control of adoptions, the Shakers numbers fell from thousands in the 1860s to just a dozen by 1920.

Today, a handful of adherents live and work in a Shaker village in New Gloucester, Maine that was founded in 1783. The working communal farm includes 18 buildings on 1800 acres. They are the last practicing Shakers anywhere in the world.

Six of the farm's buildings are open to the public and can be toured during the summer months. The museum, founded as a means of explaining and promoting the faith in 1931, actually incorporates more than two dozen rooms across a number of buildings. Exhibits tell the story of Shaker history, art, lifestyles, architecture and furniture, as well as the backstory of the Sabbathday Lake community, its farm and its orchard.

The Shakers are perhaps best known for their furniture - and the simple yet functional design of their crafts. Indeed, "Shaker style" chairs remain very popular as reproductions even today.

A visit to the Shaker Village is a fascinating look at this nearly-gone religious group. While known for the stark, unadorned nature of their architecture and furniture, the Shakers were also intrigued by technology, and early adopters of things like telephones, electricity and central heating. The village library, housed in the community's original schoolhouse, is a treasure trove of books, art and even distinctive Shaker music.

The village includes a small store that sells handmade craft items, as well as many of the distinctive Shaker herbs that have been grown in the New Gloucester location for over 200 years.

The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village is open Mondays through Saturdays from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. A 75-minute guided tour departs six times daily, at a cost of $6.50 for adults and $2.00 for children 6-12. The village is located on Route 26 in New Gloucester, Maine - just 25 miles north of Portland. No pets are allowed in the village - even those intended to be left in the car by visitors.