The Harvard Shaker Village Holy Hill site, established in 1842, served as an isolated, elevated outdoor sanctuary designed specifically for the community’s intense spiritual rituals and sacred dances. The hilltop area featured a meticulously leveled half-acre clearing enclosed by a fence and lined with rows of beautiful maple trees. At its exact center stood the “Lord’s Stone,” a sacred marble marker that symbolized the spiritual heart of their worship space.

This large, wood-framed, stucco building is imposing in its size and interior. A very similar-sized Brother’s Shop was once just behind the Sister’s Shop, but it fell into disrepair and was removed in the 1970s.

The Spring House was the source of an elaborate water system that provided the Church Family with a reliable supply of water to serve the community.

This monument memorializes an act of hostility against the Shakers.

The South Family raised animals and grew crops, necessitating the construction of a barn. Work on the barn began in 1834, and the structure was completed in April, 1836.

This South Family Dwelling House was the residence for the “novitiate,” where prospective adult converts lived.

This is the one remaining structure from the North Family portion of the Shaker Village.

The Harvard Shakers became one of the major producers of medicinal herbs in 19th-century America. This charming building was made of stone due to the risk of fire during the drying process.

Built about 1800, this small building was identified on Village maps as the ministry’s shop or just plain “shop.”

The Square House was the cornerstone of the Harvard Shaker Village. Although it predates their arrival, Harvard and visiting Shakers revered it because of its direct connection with Shaker founder, Mother Ann Lee.

Built in 1795, three years after the First House was constructed, this dormitory dwelling cost about $2,000. It stood along Shaker Road next to the First House and the Sisters’ Shop to the north and the Brethren’s Shop on the north side of Maple Lane.

Traditionally called the Office Shop, and more recently referred to as the Carpenter’s Shop, this building was built in 1878 and adapted for a residence in the 1930s.

The New Office is the largest building in the Church Family, and its interior is largely unchanged since the Shakers left the village in 1918.

The Ministry Shop, built in 1848, is the only remaining brick building in Harvard’s Shaker Village.

The Meetinghouse occupied a central position in the Shaker Village and was one of the earliest buildings constructed. With a clapboard-sheathed exterior, granite steps, and separate entrances for each gender and for the elders, the Meetinghouse followed the design established by the Society.