Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village

The Last Living Shaker Community

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester is the last active Shaker community in the world. As of 2025, three members live and worship here, continuing a tradition that dates to the community’s founding in the 1780s. At its peak in the mid-1800s, the village covered 1,900 acres with 26 large buildings and supported a thriving agricultural and craft economy. Today, the remaining Shakers maintain a working farm, a museum, and a way of life that has endured for nearly 250 years.

The entire property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974. The village sits along Route 26 in a landscape of rolling fields, white-painted buildings, and carefully tended gardens. There is a profound stillness to the place that no photograph captures. You simply have to stand there.

What to See

Guided museum tours run from Memorial Day through Columbus Day and last about an hour. The tours walk you through several of the historic buildings, including the 1794 Meetinghouse (where Shaker worship services were held), the Ministry Shop, and exhibit spaces filled with Shaker furniture, tools, textiles, and documents.

Shaker furniture is renowned worldwide for its clean lines, functional beauty, and craftsmanship. Seeing the original pieces in the buildings where they were made and used provides context that no museum reproduction can match. The chairs, tables, and built-in cabinets demonstrate the Shaker principle that utility and beauty are the same thing.

The village grounds include herb gardens, orchards, a cemetery, and farm buildings. Walking the grounds between the white clapboard structures, with fields stretching to the tree line, offers a glimpse of what rural Maine looked like two centuries ago.

The gift shop sells Shaker-produced herbs, teas, jams, and crafts. These are genuine products from the community, not reproductions.

History

The Shakers, formally the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, were a religious community known for communal living, celibacy, gender equality, pacifism, and exceptional craftsmanship. The movement originated in England and spread to America in the late 1700s. At its height, there were roughly 6,000 Shakers in 19 communities across the eastern United States.

The Sabbathday Lake community was established in the 1780s and grew steadily through the 19th century. As membership declined across all Shaker communities in the 20th century, Sabbathday Lake became the last surviving active community. In 2025, Sister April Baxter joined the community, bringing the membership to three: Sister June Carpenter, Brother Arnold Hadd, and Sister April.

Conservation easements now protect the village and its surrounding farmland and forests from development, ensuring that the landscape remains intact regardless of what happens to the community.

When to Visit

Summer and early fall are the best times for a visit, when guided tours are running and the gardens are at their peak. The combination of white buildings against green fields in summer or against fall foliage in October makes this one of the most photogenic historic sites in Maine.

Practical Notes

Guided tours cost approximately $15 per adult. Children’s rates and group discounts may be available. Tours run several times daily from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. The grounds are accessible year-round at no charge.

Parking is free. Restrooms and a gift shop are available during tour hours. The site is partially wheelchair accessible, though some historic buildings have steps.

Dogs are not permitted on tours or in buildings. The village is about 40 minutes north of Portland via Route 26, an easy half-day trip from the city.

Getting There

From Portland, take I-95 north to Exit 63 (Route 202/100). Follow Route 26 north for about 8 miles. The Shaker Village is on the left, well marked with signs. From Lewiston/Auburn, take Route 202 east to Route 26 south. The drive from Portland takes about 40 minutes.

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