Shaker Town

Thur. May 4th. we awoke to the sounds of thunder and then rain. Mid morning Paul & Mary and our selves went to Harrodsburg , KY to visit the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill www.shakervillageky.org. It is located about 25 miles south east of Lexington, KY or about an hour drive northeast on rte. 68 from Campbellsville. After a very delicious lunch in their restaurant we spent the rest of the afternoon touring the restored village. The Shakers were a religious group that believed in celebit communal living. Their big movement occurred in the 1800's. Being celebit the only way for them to continue existing is by recruiting new members. As a result their are only 3 Shakers in existence today and they live in Maine. The Shaker village at Pleasant Hill at its high in 1840 to 1850 had 500 members and owned 5000 acres of land. The restored village is run by a non profit foundation. They have acquired 3000 of the original acres and restored many of the buildings. The last Shakers to live in the village moved into town in 1923 and turned the land over to the town in return for taking care of them until death. Many of the buildings were used for business purposes and the land was farmed by individuals for many years. A very interesting place and they have done a very good job of restoring the buildings. The tour guides and people stationed at each building and exhibit were very knowledgeable. Pictured is the centre family dwelling i believe thy said this building was about 40000 square feet. This is where they lived the men on one side and the women on the other. Their buildings were very well constructed as they built their buildings to last for a thousand years. The weather had cleared and it was a very pleasant afternoon. On the return trip it clouded and we drove back to Campbellsville in rain. It is very green here and the cattle grazing on the hill sides and in the valleys make this very pretty area.