Hassan introduces bill to designate Canterbury Shaker Village as National Heritage Area

WASHINGTON — Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) will soon introduce legislation to designate the Canterbury Shaker Village a National Heritage Area, noting the historic and cultural significance of the settlement.

Hassan is coordinating the bipartisan effort with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) to designate the Shaker village as a heritage area in order to preserve their history as an egalitarian Christian sect organized in the 1780s. The nonprofit which manages the village restored 25 original Shaker buildings, four reconstructed Shaker buildings and nearly 700 acres of forests, fields, gardens, nature trails and mill ponds. 

Shakers came to the United States in the 1770s and founded 19 settlements between Maine and Kentucky. In the 1850s, at its peak, 300 Shakers lived in Canterbury village in over 100 buildings. 

“Canterbury Shaker Village provides visitors with an immersive experience, teaching people about the history of the Shakers and their unique way of life,” Hassan said in a press release. “I am pleased to reintroduce this bill, now with bipartisan support, that takes the first steps towards designating the Shaker Village in Canterbury as a National Heritage Area so that their history can continue to be shared for generations to come.”

If passed, the bill would direct the National Parks Service to conduct a study on designating the village as a National Heritage Area, the first step in the process to bestow official designation. If selected, Canterbury Shaker Village would be eligible to receive up to $1 million in federal funding annually to support its operations.

In 2019, a bill introduced by Hassan to re-designate Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, in Cornish, as a National Historical Park was signed into law. 

“The Canterbury Shaker Village is a historic site where locals and visitors can learn about the heritage and the history of the Shakers. We need to designate the Shaker Village as a National Heritage Area so that the history of the Shakers can continue to be preserved and shared, and I’m glad that we now have bipartisan support for this effort,” Hassan wrote in an emailed response to questions from The Sun. “Passage of this bill would assure that the National Park Service takes the necessary first steps required to honor the Canterbury Shaker Village with this designation and would also help the Shaker Village become eligible for federal funding to continue its work.”

Canterbury Shaker Village Executive Director Leslie Nolan said the historic designation would be a major boon for their organization.

“It would be a game-changer,” Nolan said Friday. “I’ve worked for nonprofits my whole career and raising money for historic preservation is the most challenging by far.”

The Shaker village is a unique historical site worth preserving, Nolan said. 

“Canterbury Shaker Village is really unique,” she said. “The last few Shakers [in Canterbury] lived there.”

Gertrude Soule died at age 93 in 1988; Bertha Lindsay died at 93 in 1990; and Ethel Hutson, the last remaining Shaker in Canterbury, died at age 100 in 1992.

There are also a small number of Shakers who live at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine. 

The money that would be available each year if the designation is approved would go a long way in preserving the community in Canterbury — recent repairs to a large dwelling room cost around $300,000 to complete, Nolan said. Of the 30 remaining buildings at the property, nearly all of them are in need of repairs.

“To be listed and affiliated nationally like that would be so valuable — to share the Shakers' story," Nolan said. “We applaud Sen. Hassan’s efforts for the village. It was really good for her to see the need and what the Canterbury Shakers could be and what it could contribute nationally.”

Nolan said Shakers are often confused with the Amish, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The Shakers embraced technology and scientific research and valued gender equality and egalitarianism above all else, Nolan said.

“To be designated as a National Heritage Area would be huge for the Shakers and huge for the country,” she said. 

The bill isn’t guaranteed to be adopted into law, but Hassan said working across the political aisle increases the odds the effort will be passed.

“It is always important to reach across the aisle and build bipartisan support — doing so makes our democracy stronger and it also can increase the chance of passage for a bill,” she said.

She said the designation of the Canterbury Shaker Village as a National Historic Area could benefit the people of New Hampshire in a variety of ways. 

“Granite Staters know that there is much to be gained by honoring our history and teaching younger generations about the philosophies and communities that influence us today as well as the ingenuity and accomplishment of those who settled our state,” she said.

The legislative effort would also preserve the rich and long history and culture of the Shakers in New Hampshire, she said. 

“This designation would ensure that the Canterbury Shaker Village lives on as a resource by making the Shaker Village eligible for federal Heritage Area funding, preserving the tradition of the Shakers, and allowing future generations to visit and learn about their way of life and their influence on our state and country.”