The Shakers of Mount Lebanon

 

Most people who are interested in the Shakers know of Hancock Shaker Village, a well preserved settlement near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. A visit there is  a definite must for anyone who wants to explore the Shaker heritage.

 

 

 

Views of Hancock ShakerVillage



 

However, many visitors miss another important Shaker site only a few miles west over the Ndew York State line. Mount Lebanon was the real motherhouse of the Shaker world in the 19th century and promises to offer an even fuller vision of that world.

 

 

 Shaker woman in the 1870s

from the collection of the Shaker Museum and Library

The Shaker Museum and Library in Old Chatham is in the process of moving to Mount Lebanon. This is the world's most complete collection of  Shaker artifacts and documents,  and owes its existence John S. Williams, a great friend of the last few Shakers. The museum's new location will be a few miles away at  Mount Lebanon, the spiritual center of Shaker life from its founding in 1787 until 1947.

  Shaker Eldresses from about 1890-1910

from the collections of The Shaker Museum & Library

We visited Mount Lebanon as par tof a project to more deeply explore the effects of this Christian sect upon American life. The Shakers are best remembered today for the  fine quality of their workmanship and for the commitment to celibacy which, in contrast to other native forms of Christianity,  doomed their denomination to extinction. The United Society of Believers in Christ's Reappearing, as they called themselves,  shared many practices and beliefs common to the still thriving Mormon and Pentecostal traditions and were pioneers in practicing the gender and racial equality that is  so fundamental to our contemporary political and cultural life. They were also, however, rare among Protestants in the creation of celibate brotherhoods and sisterhoods similar to the monastic orders of the Roman Catholic faith.

Elderly remnant of the Shaker community, in the 1920s

from the collection of the Shaker Museum & Library

Mount Lebanon is located on Shaker and Darrow Roads in New Lebanon, near the intersection of routes 20 and 22, on a mountainside near the Massachusetts border. Our first stop was  on Cherry Lane at The Inn at the Shaker Mill Farm, a pleasant hostelry  in a renovated grist mill built by the "Church Family" in 1824. According to Peter Stott, this mill served to grind grain for the entire New Lebanon community, Shaker and non-Shaker alike. (The celibate Shakers arranged themselves in working communities they called "families," such as the Church Family, the Center Family, the North Family and so on.)

The Inn at Shaker Mill Farm

 A little farther up the western slope of the Taconic Range we found the many remaining buildings of the North Family. The buildings are now largely the property of the Darrow School, and many are in active use.  The entire area is listed as a National Historic Site and major preservation work has been ongoing, although not during our visit.

ruins of the Great Stone Barn at Mount Lebanon

Built in 1859, the Great Stone Barn burned in 1979. The structure, like others at Mt. Lebanon, is now being stabilized, thanks to funding from the New York State Department of Transportation, the Federal department of Housing and Urban Development, the World Monuments Fund and private donors.

North Family Wash House (1854)

The exterior of the communal wash house is also undergoing preservation effports, while other nearby Shaker structures such as the Meacham Dwelling House  are private residences.

The Meacham Dwelling House (1818)

There still remain many buildings used by the industrious Shakers to manufacture products for local use and for sale to the public, including The Forge and The Brethrens' Workshop.

The Brethrens Workshop (1825)

 The Forge, built between 1825-1828

According to Peter Stott, the  Brethrens Workshop was the principal manufacturing building among a small group of shops drawing on a common source of water power. Carpentry, broom-making and washing machines were driven by water power, which also provided power for the bellows and triphammer in the adjacent forge.

An interesting description of this community at its height can be found in the report of Charles Nordhoff who visited Mount Lebanon in 1875 and found  "all or nearly all the Shaker people—polite, patient, noiseless in their motions except during their "meetings" or worship, when they are sometimes quite noisy; scrupulously neat, and much given to attend to their own business." Elder Frederick Evans informed Nordhoff that the society no longer took in orphans "for experience had proved that when these grew up they were oftenest discontented, anxious to gain property for themselves, curious to see the world, and therefore left the society." The recent Civil War had also led to reduced membership since some of the young Shaker men, although raised as pacifists, had acceded to the pressures of conscription and gone off to war.

The survival of so many of the original buildings of Mount Lebanon owes much to establishment of the Darrow School at the site in 1932.A decade before the last elderly Shakers left Mt. Lebanon in 1948, they set in motion plans for a school to inherit their property. The private co-ed boarding school currently enrolls about 100 students and employs 30 teachers.

The Darrow School makes active use of Shaker buildings

Gazing across the fields once tilled by Shakers, we tried to imagine the lives they must have led, working so hard and yet denying to themselves earthly love and family.  Their joys we know of, from the many witnesses whom they invited to watch their ecstatic dancing and singing, but what of their sorrows, their doubts, their despair?

Our curiosity about these influential and unusual Americans still unsatisfied, we visited the set out for the first of the Shaker villages some thirty miles to the west, where the founder of this sect, Mother Ann Lee, was revered as a female Christ.

Public Access to Nutten Hook Shoreline Threatened

The Ferry Road crossing

Residents of Ferry Road in Nutten Hook are outraged by New York State's plan to close the Ferry Road Amtrak crossing and demolish five homes, including two on the National Historic Register. The closing will also block public access to one of the most unspoiled sections of shoreline on the Hudson River.


On May 13, 2010, the Hudson, NY  Register-Star reported:

Residents of Ferry Road heard directly from the state agencies that control their fate on Thursday morning. As in the past, they came away with more questions than answers. While holding court in Stuyvesant Town Hall, Administrative Law Judge Peter Loomis of the state Department of Transportation swore in three witnesses from his agency, along with one official from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Other officials and interested parties were also allowed to enter unsworn statements into his record.


The hearing re-opened a 1996 legal decision which declared the gated rail crossing at Ferry Road unsafe, and ordered it closed. An updated ruling in 2006 added that the crossing would remain open until a connector road was built to Ice House Road, a short distance to the north. Without a connector, three occupied homes on Ferry Road would be unreachable by emergency vehicles, and subject to purchase under eminent domain by the state.

This beautiful section of the Hudson River, once the scene of thriving industries, has long been of interest to us, and previous postings at Upstate Earth have focused on the ruins of the R&W Scott Icehouse and the Cary Brickyard . In the late 19th and early 20th century barges carried bricks and ice south to New York City, while a ferry plied back and forth to Coxsackie on the opposite shore.

Originally called Nutten Hoek, or "nut-tree point,"  by the 17th century Dutch, the bedrock promontory now known as Newton Hook may contain undiscovered artifacts of the Paleo-Indians whose presence has been documented at Tivoli Bay and other spots along this part of the Hudson estuary. The entire point is an undeveloped Department of Environmental Conservation site and included within the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve.


As soon as we read of the state's sudden rush to close off the area, we went down to the river to take a look for ourselves. Our first stop was at Icehouse Road, where another open rail crossing will, according to the state, be improved with new safety features. From here we saw the wetlands across which a road was promised in 1996. Now, however, the state's Department of Environmental Conservation has changed its position. The wetlands, according to DEC's Betsy Blair, contain federally and state protected wetlands and any road, even a single lane along the dry land at the base of the Nutten Hook peak, is no longer acceptable.

View  from IceHouse Rd. of  Nutten Hook and wetlands

We walked south on 9-J for half a mile to the Ferry Road crossing, where an Amtrak passenger train was racing by. Crossing the tracks, we soon encountered a local resident who provided us with many details about the current struggle. Among the most interesting was that buying and destroying the houses on Ferry Road would cost more than $900,000 while building a half-mile long single lane road connecting Icehouse and Ferry Roads would cost, at most, a third as much.

Amtrak train at Ferry Road crossing

Activists' signs on Ferry Road

Now a private residence, the 1881 Lynch Hotel

is on the National Historic Register

We moved on to the point to enjoy once more this shoreline so popular with local fishermen, hikers, and picnickers. This is just about the only spot in the county where people can find easy access to the Hudson, which is almost everywhere else blocked by the railroad line. The boat access at nearby Stockport Creek has no access to the shoreline  and  high speed trains make it unsafe for children. And the one state park in the area which offers river access, Schodack Island State Park, is set to be closed on May 16 due to the state's budget shortfall.

View of Coxsackie waterfront from site of the old ferryboat pier

Ocean-going freighter bound for the Port of Albany

Hudson River beach at Ferry Point

Still puzzling over why state agencies would join forces to close off this shoreline, we followed the trail leading from Ferry Rd to Ice House Rd.  This level route along the eastern edge of Nutten Hook hill is on dry ground and it seems clear that a single lane road could be constructed on this route at minimal expense and without any significant damage to the wetlands.

This trail between Ferry and Icehouse Roads could be 

converted to a single lane road

View of Catskill Mountains from the peak of Newton Hook

Ruins of the R& W Scott Icehouse, built in 1885

What can be done to preserve access to Nutten Hook?

The residents of Ferry Road have created a website, Save Ferry Road, which explains the whole situation in detail and provides a list of officials in the state Department of Transportation and the state Department of Environmental Conservation who have joined forces to destroy this small community and block public access to the river.

The site also provides contact numbers for  the local representatives for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Scott Murphy, both of whom have written letters of support for saving Ferry Road. 


I am in the process of contacting these people and will post updates as to their response. I urge you to do the same.

Update June 10, 2010

DEC's Gene Kelly has written back saying that "the development of a connector road from Ice House Road to Ferry Road across the Reserve would impact the sensitive wetlands, archeological artifacts, and important wildlife habitat found at this site," without mentioning any post-1996 study substantiating the claims. He adds that: "assuming the state's fiscal climate improves, the Department anticipates building  a parking area and handicapped accessible trail to the Hudson River at the end of Ice House Road."

Congressman Murphy's assistant Rob Scholz said that the Nutten Hook issue was one for state representatives. None of the other officials whom I contacted have responded.

Update May 29, 2011 Newton Hook Rail Crossing Gets a Reprieve

The Albany Times Union carried a report today that "a  DOT administrative law judge ordered that the crossing remain open and be improved with federal stimulus funding while DOT studies long-term safety improvements. DOT has to file its report by June 30, 2012."



Report from Schodack Island State Park

Schodack Island State Park is one of 91 state parks and historic sites being closed May 16 as part of Governor Patterson's budget cuts, thus cutting off one more public access to the Hudson in our area. Fred Lebrun has excellent analysis of the politics behind this decision in  Padlocked Parks Lock Out Sense in the Albany Times Union.

The park already shows signs of neglect as the shutdown process gets underway. I biked along the extensive trail system, surprised to see no other bikers or hikers. Then I realized why. The trails are blocked in many places by fallen trees that would ordinarily be quickly  removed by park employees.

 Trails are blocked by fallen trees

 Idled State Park Police boats

The park was once three islands, before being combined into one by dredging, and is believed to be the place where Henry Hudson was welcomed by the Mohican people. Archeologists have done little work at this site, but it is known that the aboriginal people maintained corn fields in the rich alluvial soil of the island. Artifacts from this forgotten culture have been dated back to 5000 years ago, and there is doubtless much that we could have learned from them about living in harmony with the natural world.

Replica of Henry Hudson's Half Moon at Albany

Although they welcomed Hudson and his crew with a friendliness that was in sharp contrast to the more warlike peoples encountered near the river's mouth, their fate was not a happy one. Decimated by European diseases, the Mohicans lost several wars to the Mohawks, who adopted firearms and dominated the violent struggle for the furs in such demand by the European market.

 The 18th century Mohican Chief  Etow made
his home on this island or the nearby shore.

Update on Schodack Island

Schodack Island State Park was briefly closed, along with many other state parks, and then reopened to the public after additional funds were voted in Albany.

Update on Newton Hook

After many years of attempting to close the Ferry Road Crossing, State Department of Transportation finally gave up in september, 2012.

A hike to the fire tower on Beebe Hill

Beebe Hill rises 300 feet above the uplands of the Taconic range in the town of Austerlitz in Columbia County, and offers beautiful views in all directions from the firetower at the summit. The hike is an easy one, taking about an hour on a well-marked trail. Access to parking for the trail is from country road 5, which branches north from State Route 2 a few hundred feet north of the 22 and 203 intersection. Access to the trail and parking is on a dirt road at the north end of Barrett Pond.

view of Beebe Hill across Barrett Pond

Trailhead Parking

The western slopes of the Taconics were far more populated in the early 1800s than they are today, and largely settled by New England yankees who swarmed into the area just after the Revolution. Soon lured westward by new (some would say stolen) lands opened up by the defeat of the Iroquois allies of the British, many of the early farmers soon moved on. Among those who passed through was the family of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and other Yankees who formed the core of the earliest Latter Day Saints.

The rocky farms of these early settlers have long since returned to woodland, but evidence of their presence is clear. A small cemetery adjoins the parking area, suggesting old sorrows. Ruth Browter's stone can easily be read, altho some others have become illegible. Ruth lived to age 87, dying in 1875, and rests now beside her young husband who died fifty years earlier. Many of the stones memorialize the Crowter and Harmen families and indicate an extensive settlement into the 1840s. The young are too often found here, but all were sustained by their Christian faith. On the stone marking the grave of 81 year old Deborah Goodrich can be found this poem:

Her Soul has gone to rest

While here her Body Lies

To moulder back to dust again

Till Christ shall bid it rise

Daniel Barrett is still remembered

Stone fences mark the boundaries of 19th century fields and pastures

After paying our respects to the hardy farmers who once struggled with this rocky and ungenerous soil, we set out up the trail, clearly marked with blue  markers. The climb is an easy one, suitable for children, and in winter offers numerous views of the surrounding country

Typically easy grade on this trail

Well maintained bridge on the trail

After perhaps a half hour's ascent, the trail reaches a plateau on the top of the ridge, and unless it is very dry, you will see a pond ( or tarn) to your left. Just beyond is a sturdy lean-to erected by the volunteers. Very soon you will come into a grassy area and your first view of the firetower.

Tarn on the top of the ridge

Lean-to built by volunteers

First view of the firetower

The firetower is open for hikers to climb to the top and the stairway, although steep, is enclosed for the most part. The views are beautiful in all directions: west into the higher ranges of the Taconics on the Massachusetts line and east toward the Hudson and the Catskills beyond.

Views from the firetower

The forest fire observatory on Beebe Hill operated continuously from April of 1964 until the end of the 1987 fire season. Prior to 1964 the fire tower was located on the summit of Alander Mountain from 1928 through 1930 and on Washburn Mountain from 1933 until November 1963.  Ten years after the closing of the facility, local residents came together to restore the fire tower and observer's cabin. This group also created the hiking trail system throughout the Beebe Hill State Forest.  The Beebe Hill Volunteers maintain an interesting website, which provides more of the history of the tower and information on contributing to their good work.

Hiking Mates of the Capitol Region have posted a report of a visit by 15 of their members to Beebe Hill, and provide some good photos of views from the tower.

Restored ranger cabin

An abandoned cabin

I recommend returning by the same trail and avoiding the temptation offered by a broad access road leading downhill. If you take this route, as I did,  your return walk will be closer to five miles than the one mile back to the parking area.

The road not to take back down the mountain

For those interested in another glimpse of how busy this area was back in the early 1800s, I suggest a visit to Bash Bish Falls State Park  just outside of Copake Falls, 10 miles or so south on Route 22.  In addition to the beauty of the falls itself, you can see the remains of the Copake Ironworks. In the early 1800s much of the forest in this area was cut down to provide charcoal for such early forges.

Copake Iron Works

Bash Bish Falls

And bicyclists may want to explore the three mile section of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail which follows a small piece of the old railroad route that once connected the industries of Copake with New York City and Boston, via a link at Chatham. The bike trail can be found crossing the parking lot of the Copake Falls area of the NY state Taconic Park.

Mile marker on the Harlem Valley Rail Trail

(103 miles to Grand Central Station)

The southern terminus of the Rail Trail

currently ends with this view





Philmont and its High Falls

On a beautiful morning in May we set out for High Falls Conservation Area, which is owned and managed by the Columbia Land Conservancy. We drove east from state route 9-h on SR 23, then took 217 into the old mill town of Philmont. Access to the area is from Roxbury Road near the Claverack Town garage. The village, once known as Factory Hill, was home to a flourishing knitting industry, powered by water power from the 150 foot High Falls.

Thanks to the Conservancy, there are three well-maintained trails. We took the Green Trail up a slight incline for about twenty minutes to reach an observation point opposite the Falls.

The High Falls from the Green Trail

We then followed the Blue Trail down to Agawamuck Creek, which is said to offer good opportunities trout and bass. We threw the line in a few times and saw many minnows but no larger fish. Along the creek we saw some trash, evidently thrown down from the hill on the village side, the most interesting of which was a circa 1968 Volkswagen Beetle.

Agawamuck Creek

Relic of the 1960s

The blue trail ends in a jumble of rocks, over which it is necessary to climb in order to reach a truly magical place at the base of the Falls. Enclosed by high cliffs of shale is a round pool about a hundred feet in diameter. The pool looked inviting, but considering the slipperiness of the rocks, we resisted the temptation to jump in.

The High Falls from Below

The Pool Below the Falls

The red trail has its own appeal, following a highland ridge through patches of ferns and woodland flowers. Coming back down the Blue Trail, we saw stone fences, evidence that farmers once struggled to wrest a living from this rocky soil. Doubtless, the unrewarding nature of agriculture in this region made factory work desirable when the first mills were built in Philmont.

Community Activism in Philmont

The town is quite an active place, with many people on the street even on a weekday. Residents are currently united in a fight to keep Pinehaven, a public nursing and rehabilitation facility, from moving to Kinderhook about fifteen miles away. In an era when care of the aged and disabled has become one of the few reliable industries, opposition to the move is evident in a forest of signs on almost every lawn and shop window. The history of this institution, which began as a tuberculosis sanitarium, is an interesting one and well documented by local citizens. Some of the land on which it stands was purchased from George Harder, a descendant of the family that owned and ran the village’s largest employer for a century.

Last Remaining Building from High Rock Mills

The only remaining building from the High Rock Mill of the Harder family, according to Peter Stotts’ Looking for Work, is a small two story structure on Rock Street, now home to a daycare center. Originally the site for an earlier mill, built in 1845, the Harders acquired the property in 1868 and ran it until 1963. The mill reached its height in 1913, when it employed 870, a larger number than any other employer in the county.

Aken Mill Building, Now Home to Vita Nova Woodworking

We then strolled a couple blocks to Canal Street, where one of the few remaining structures from the Aken Knitting Mill is still in use by Vita Nova Woodworking. Peter Stott reports that the Aken Mill, built around 1878, employed 250 persons, mostly women, in finishing the knit goods made in the company’s other mill on Main Street. The High Rock Company later bought the mill and used it for storage until was demolished in the 1940s.

Summit Knitting Mill

The Courtyard of the Summit Knitting Mill

Fortunately, the Summit Knitting Mill, the grandest of the old factories, is still standing and in good repair. Evidently the present owners are preparing it for new uses, and after some further research we will report on their progress and plans. There is a courtyard at the back of the mill, along the creek, which could be a very attractive outdoor space for a restaurant. The walls of the courtyard, probably part of a older mill structure, are composed of piled shale, which seems quite unusual, given the friable nature of that kind of stone. Even so, the walls appear quite sturdy.

The Summit Mill is built at the top of the High Falls and just below the dam which creates the very scenic Summit Lake in the village’s center. According to Peter Stott, this was the site for the village’s first textile mill in 1796 when George Philip dammed the creek and built a fulling mill.

Summit Lake

We resolved to return soon to this beautiful village and get to know the lively people who still call it home. Perhaps in a time when our nation is struggling to overcome dependence on fossil fuels, the power of the High Falls will once again be a source of prosperity on the Agawamuck Creek.