The Watervliet Shaker Village and the Rigor of Shaker Architecture

The Shakers created this site as their first settlement in America, founding the community in 1776. While the Shaker organization eventually passed further east to New Lebanon, this town still prospered as an early farming community

Lean, spare proportions and disciplined grace of these buildings set it apart from any utilitarian 19th century farm architecture.

The architectural rigor and proportional clarity of the buildings are unsurpassed. The site is now owned and maintained by the National Park Service, and is within the modern day town of Colonie New York, just to the north and west of Albany.