Canterbury Shaker Village Reopens May 13

Guided Tour Sign FV

Saturday, May 13 marks Opening Day at Canterbury Shaker Village with several special events scheduled to take place in addition to indoor guided tours.

At 10:00 a.m., Opening Day at the Village begins with Canterbury Shaker Village XC 5K, the third race in the Capital Area Race Series (CARS), sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental. Featuring miles of groomed trails on nearly 700 acres, the Village hosts cross-country races throughout the year.

Vermin and Verdigris

Green Bedstead

With all that we know about the Shakers’ waking hours of work and worship, it’s time to ask how they slept. Did a day of physical labor and mental focus make for a restful night’s slumber? Did the more devout labor nightly about the state of their souls?

Canterbury Shaker Village Launches The Blinn Report

When fourteen-year-old Henry Blinn first came to Canterbury

Recently, Canterbury Shaker Village launched The Blinn Report, an online blog that highlights objects from its vast and varied collections as well as the many stories they reveal about this long-lived utopian community.

Handwriting on the Walls—and on the Furniture, too!

These handwritten words on the Laundry’s attic walls follow the Palmer method of penmanship.

Remember the weekend of the Great Freeze in early February? Any great change in temperature and humidity results in possible problems with plumbing pipes—and for Canterbury Shaker Village’s unparalleled historic collections and structures. The Great Freeze required the Great Inspection of storage spaces, attics, basements, and cellars.

Shaker Pie is Rational: Some Thoughts on Pi Day 2023

Mary Whitcher

Pie unites because it is so divisible. Unlike pi, pie was rational to Shakers who shared fairly at the dining table. How the Canterbury Shakers conceived of themselves was found not in distinctive foods but rather in their communal foodways: soups, meats, and vegetables were dished out from shared platters and bowls.