North Union Shaker Site is a historic site in

Shaker Heights, Ohio Shaker Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the city population was 29,439. Shaker Heights is an inner-ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland, abutting the eastern edge of the city's limits. In July 1911, a ...

. The site was founded by

Shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a millenarian restorationist Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the United States in the 1780s. They were initially ...

in 1822 and was added to the National Register in 1974. The Shakers ran grist and grain mills from the lakes created when they dammed Doan Creek. The community ceased to exist in 1899. All of the buildings that had been part of the North Union Shaker community have been demolished, and 280 of the original 1,000 acres are Shaker Lakes parkland, which includes walking trails and a Shaker archaeological site, the Shaker Historical Museum and Library.

Shaker community

Ralph Russell convinced his family to convert to the Shaker sect and established the North Union Shaker Settlement in 1822 with just over 80 individuals on 1,000 acres of donated land.''North Union Shaker Site''
Shaker Historic Trail. Retrieved March 24, 2014. In 1826, the group dammed Doan Brook, thus creating the Lower Lake and establishing a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

and a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

. Later, in 1854, the community built a second dam creating the Upper Lake, and constructed another mill. Also called 'The Valley of God's Pleasure', the colony peaked around 1850 with about 300 settlers. The Mill family was established about 1826 to run the mills, which produced lumber and milled grain. The Gathering Family was established in the community. File:Mill Family House, North Union Settlement.jpg, Mill Family House, North Union Settlement File:Old Stone Grist Mill, North Union Shaker Settlement.jpg, Old Stone Grist Mill, North Union Shaker Settlement As the Shakers practiced

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

, the colony faded away and was closed in 1889. In 1905, the land was bought by brothers M.J. and O.P. Van Sweringen who envisioned the first garden styled suburb in Ohio for the site. The brothers constructed homes, set aside land for

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

es and schools, and planted trees. There were approximately 200 Shaker songs, hymns and anthems composed at North Union. One of them was written in tribute to the Shaker leader,

Ann Lee Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or the Shakers. After nearly two decades of participation in a r ...

, on her arrival in New York City in 1774. It is titled, "On the Landing of Mother Ann in America." None of the buildings from the North Union Shaker community remain. Today, only one "society" remains in the control of the last Shakers, located at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine.The last of the Shakers
Busted Halo, April 13, 2010

Park and Shaker Historical Museum

Land that had been owned by the Shakers and was donated to the City of Cleveland is the basis for the Shaker Lakes Parklands. The park includes lakes created by the Shakers, walking trails, the Shaker Historical Museum, and an archaeological site where the Shakers' houses had been demolished.

References

External links

The Shaker Historical Society Museum and Library (official site)

{{National Register of Historic Places Shaker Heights, Ohio Geography of Cuyahoga County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Shaker communities or museums

Shaker community

Park and Shaker Historical Museum

References

Further reading

External links