Preserving Culture, Land and History
$500,000 grant supports campaign to save
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village
Historic barns at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village
Founded in 1783, the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community consists of 1,700 acres in New Gloucester, Maine, with 19 buildings, farmland and forest. The site reflects “a unique combination of self-sufficiency, spirituality, communal life and practicality.”
A coalition of historic preservation and conservation organizations and government agencies has joined with the Shakers to secure the future of their village. The alliance includes the Trust for Public Land and the lead project partners: Maine Preservation, Friends of the Royal River, New England Forestry Foundation, the State of Maine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
An anonymous MaineCF donor recently contributed $500,000 to the effort to secure protection of the landscape and village, which has been threatened by development pressures. “We take pride in working closely with donors to fulfill their philanthropic goals,” said Henry Schmelzer, MaineCF president, “and this significant support for a remarkable cause exemplifies the results such a partnership may have.”
Photo: Jerry & Marcy Monkman/EcoPhotography, courtesy Trust for Public Land.