It Takes a Community to Preserve a Village
Restroation efforts bring Shaker village at South Union back to life

Ten miles west of Bowling Green lies a treasure of a historic site that exists only because of neighbors who are determined that future generations enjoy it. Thanks to a few concerned Logan Countians, the Shaker Museum at South Union is now a beautifully curated collection of well-preserved artifacts, gorgeous hand-crafted furniture and 11 architecturally intriguing buildings set on around 700 acres.

Once a thriving 6,000-acre plantation with more than 200 buildings and 350 inhabitants, South Union was begun in 1807 by the Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, a communal religious sect whose frenzied, spirit-filled dancing led them to be called Shakers.

Embracing simplicity and perfection, the order’s strict lifestyle espoused celibacy, communal ownership of property, public confession of sin and withdrawal from society, or “the world.” Gaining members through taking in orphans, runaway slaves and recruiting, the Shakers established a reputation for honesty, humility, dedication to God and unmatched craftsmanship.

“What makes South Union special,” says the Shaker Museum’s executive director, Jerry Wooten, “is the fact that all of our collection is identified. We’ve made a point in the 40 years we’ve been collecting to collect only South Union, which is the hardest furniture to locate.

“It was all sold at auction in 1922 and has been passed down. We know that most of the items are probably within 100 miles of this spot, but many people probably don’t know what they’ve got. We feel that we have some of the most finely detailed furniture and most of the really rare pieces.”

One of the largest (30,000) and finest collections of Shaker artifacts in the country, the museum collection is housed in the elegant 1824 Centre Family Dwelling, a four-story, 42-room former Shaker dormitory occupied from 1833 till 1922. Most centre houses were frame but due to lack of timber in the area, South Union’s was built of bricks fired on site. Its double room doors and staircases illustrate the group’s practice of separating the sexes, while multi-drawered built-in cabinets and peg strips on the walls speak to orderliness and cleanliness.

Open March 1 to December 1, except Thanksgiving, the museum offers an informative eight-minute introductory video about Shaker and site history. The building is staffed by costumed interpreters who point out its fine architectural features.

“The arches, the cornices, the woodwork detail that went into the wainscoating are exquisite,” Wooten explains. “They were adding crown molding and beaded work when most Shaker buildings had plain, flat woodworking. Even the stairwells are elaborately detailed.”

One of 24 Shaker villages in America, South Union grew to encompass huge dormitories, subsidiary shops and outbuildings, barns and stables, and a large, steam-powered mill complex unequaled in the region. Hiring out some of Kentucky’s first purebred bulls for stud statewide, the community supported itself with sophisticated ventures in milk products, garden seeds, fruit preserves, brooms, hats, bonnets, baskets, rugs, linen and fine silk handkerchiefs marketed to customers from Nashville to New Orleans.

Unlike the Amish and Mennonite sects, Shakers were a progressive people who embraced technology. Many Shaker inventions are still used today, such as the circular saw, flat broom and spring-loaded clothespin. “Had Shakers survived here today,” Wooten speculates, “they’d be on line with computers and have semi trucks shipping their goods all over the world.”

South Union’s existing radiator pipes were installed by the Shakers at a time when much of rural Logan County was heating by woodstove. The central heating system in the Centre Family Dwelling still works fine.

“Shakers had interior heat and the means to buy it, linoleum flooring and carpeting,” adds Wooten. “And they had the first car in Logan County.”

By the late 1820s the village had reached its economic peak and prospered until the Civil War. Because of its Southern location, South Union was in the midst of troop movements and never fully recovered. All four years, soldiers camped around the Centre Family Dwelling and members served more than 50,000 meals to both the Blue and the Grey. Many of the settlement’s frame buildings were destroyed and its railroad depot was burned to the ground.

Each August those trying, stirring times come back to life during South Union’s Civil War Days, when reenactors stage a living history encampment.

Though the war led to its eventual demise, South Union gamely attempted to recover by building an inn at their commercial complex on the railroad to cater to the overflow of Victorian travelers who stopped at the village for lodging. In 1869 the trustees erected the ornate Shaker Tavern, an imposing structure with a grand six-columned facade, intricate brickwork, a wide veranda and ornate staircase, a style in direct contrast to the Shakers’ simple tastes.

Maintaining a bustling business housing the “people of the world” for 40 years, the hotel has always been run by non-Shakers and is today. Innkeeper Jo Ann Moody manages the Shaker Tavern as a lovely, year-round bed and breakfast with six bedrooms and two dining rooms just up the road from the museum, which owns the hostelry. In addition to a full breakfast, an advance request will get dinner with your stay. Groups of 10 to 60 who call ahead can come for lunch or dinner (800-929-8701).

Right next door is the South Union Post Office, once a general store as well, and the only Shaker post office in existence that’s still being used as one.

Unable to attract enough converts, the village population fell to less than 50 by the turn of the century, and in 1922 upwards of 5,000 people attended a series of public auctions of the property, buildings and contents. Until 1949, the land fell under various ownerships, at which time part was used as a monastery, which still owns and uses several buildings.

In 1971 the Centre House, 1835 Smoke and Milk House and 3.5 acres was purchased from the monks by a nonprofit community organization, Shakertown, Revisited. Inspired by the dedicated efforts of Auburn, Kentucky resident Deedy Hall, who had been collecting Shaker pieces, Auburn residents raised $37,500 in 10 days to match a grant offered by then-Kentucky governor Louis B. Nunn for the purchase.

In 1971 Hall’s collection was moved to South Union and the site was dedicated and opened to the public. In 1998, an 1847 Steam House was restored and opened. By Fall 2002, the 1847 Ministry House across the road from the museum is due to be restored and the 1875 Grain Barn awaits. As nearby development is beginning to affect the village viewshed, land acquisition is a vital, ongoing project for Shakertown, Revisited.

Though the Westernmost Shaker settlement, South Union was not Kentucky’s only one.

“We’re the only state to have two Shaker villages restored and open to the public out of Shaker country, i.e. not in New England where they started,” says Jim Thomas, president and CEO of Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill near Harrodsburg. “We represent the beginning of the Western movement.”

“We’re often confused with Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill,” says Wooten, citing the fact that folks sometimes sign up for one of South Union’s workshops, then show up at Pleasant Hill for a class. “In its heyday South Union was the largest village in the West. Pleasant Hill had about 4,500 acres to South Union’s 6,000. Today Pleasant Hill has 30 buildings intact. We have 12. More than 125 were razed between 1922 and 1949.”

Fortunately, the Shakers kept meticulous records. “They wrote everything down,” Wooten says. “We know what time they went to bed, when they were eating, what they were eating. And we have nice photographs.”

In 2001 South Union and Pleasant Hill teamed up to receive the prestigious Trustee Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of Historic Sites by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). This was the first National Preservation Award ever to be presented to two historical sites together in Kentucky.

“I think South Union is a wonderful restoration because it has been and is such an extraordinary community effort,” Thomas says. “The citizens of Russellville, Auburn and Bowling Green have taken the lead in making sure the remaining site can be restored and interpreted for the public.”

For further information on the Shaker Museum, email shakmuseum@logantele.com or call (270) 542-4167.
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Katherine Tandy Brown is a staff writer for The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

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