Restoring Shakertown: The Struggle to Save the Historic Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

Founded in 1806, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, was a thriving community for much of the nineteenth century. Eventually, a steadily shrinking membership saw the gradual decline of this remarkable village, and the last remaining Shaker to reside at Pleasant Hill died in 1923. In 1961 local citizens formed a private not-for-profit organization to preserve and restore the village and interpret the rich heritage of the Pleasant Hill Shakers. Over several years, and against strong odds, this group succeeded in raising the needed money, and in 1968 eight buildings at Shakertown, carefully adapted for modern use, were opened to the public. Others would follow. Restoring Shakertown explains how the village was saved from the ravages of time and transformed into an internationally renowned landmark of historic preservation. Thomas Parrish presents a dramatic chronicle of the village’s evolving fortunes, from the challenges of financing restoration to finding preservation experts to achieve the highest standards of authenticity.