Discover & Learn

The Creamery, 1905

This structure measures 30x45 feet, and it was built between 1903 and 1905 under the direction of a non-Shaker carpenter, S. H. Mead. He constructed the building with two stories, an attic, a full cellar, and a gable roof of slate. The sisters who were engaged in dairying lived upstairs in the Creamery.

The Shakers raised their own livestock and dairy cattle, which provided many staples for their meals. Purebred, registered Guernsey cattle, noted for their high milk production and high-butterfat content in the milk, allowed the Creamery to produce cheese, butter and ice cream for the village. Shaker designs for a cream separator and motorized ice-cream freezer were among the modern inventions used in the Creamery, and the Shakers became known for their “Golden Guernsey Butter."

Today the Creamery houses special exhibits and programs, and is open to the public.