Shaker Remains & The Lollipop Cemetery

Being part of a religious group that lives communally and apart from society, that would not interest me in the least. But exploring the remains of this community 100 years after they existed, that is something that'll get me out of bed early on any given weekend.

The Shaker village of Harvard Massachusetts was the second Shaker community in America, formed by a group of four families that split from the Protestant Church in 1769. Their active members peaked at around 150 during the mid 1800s, and they spread across 1,000 acres of what is now the Holy Hill Conservation Area in Harvard, where today a public trail system crosses over much of the land they once occupied.

Location of Trailhead

At the trailhead is a map describing who the Shakers were and pointing out their notable spots within the preserve. Much of this will be left to your imagination, however, as many of those spots are now woods or open fields. But a few remnants survive. Among the most impressive is the remains of their old stone barn. You cannot go up to it - it sits on the property of a private residence - but you are still able to enjoy it from the road.

You might wonder why they would make a barn out of stone, but there were instances when stone was cheaper or more convenient to access than wood, and this seems to have been one of them. Other than being built of stone though, this was just another barn.

Source: Wikipedia

Depending on which direction you arrived from, you might have already seen the Shaker cemetery, which holds the remains of nearly 300 members of their group. If you did see it you'll understand why it's playfully referred to today as the lollipop cemetery.

My favorite remnant is their spring house, and if like I was you're unfamiliar with what a spring house is, these structures were once built over natural springs as a protection of the water source. This little hut stands over the water spring that was once shared by all members of the Shaker community.

Although not located in the conservation area, you can find this spring house by walking a trail at the end of nearby Green Hill Road, then keeping an eye out in the woods.

In addition to their religious beliefs and communal living, the Shakers differed from society in other ways, a couple of which could be considered ahead of their time. When we speak of the shakers we're speaking of the 1800s, but women within the community were treated as equal to men, and in fact the entire Shaker sect was led by a woman, Mother Ann Lee. Shakers were also pacifists, and as a group that was excused from the civil war were considered some of America's first conscientious objectors.

But they also had a few ideas that were real head-scratchers. For instance, the shakers practiced celibacy, and if there's one foolproof way to ensure the death of your group someday, just stop reproducing. The only way they could grow or even maintain their numbers was by adopting children or recruiting adults. Not surprisingly, their population dwindled to a point where several of their buildings had to be sold for the survival of remaining members, and by the early 1900s their final piece of property was gone.

But although nothing remains of the Shaker village today, enough remnants are still out there to make for an enjoyable afternoon of exploring.