Site of Groveland Shaker Community

This historical marker commemorates the Groveland Shaker Community which was located here. Officially founded in 1836, the community traces its history back to 1826 with the founding of the Sodus Bay Shaker Community. By the mid-1830s, the state of New York began making plans for a canal that would cut through the Sodus Bay community, prompting the Shakers there to sell their property and purchase 1,670 acres in Groveland, fifty miles to the southeast. The community founded by the Groveland Shakers was to be the last Shaker community founded in New York state. The site has long been abandoned and now overlooks the Groveland Correctional Facility. A historic marker identifies the site and the few structures that remain.

The Shaker faith originated in England in the mid-1700s, but it would only take shape in America years later under the leadership of Mother Ann Lee. Lee’s early life was marked my numerous hardships: rigorous menial work, an unhappy marriage, and the deaths of four children at very young ages. Lee joined the sect and gradually came to experience religious visions. These apparently intensified during a period in which she was imprisoned for her beliefs, and it was during this time that she came to believe that it was only through maintaining strict celibacy that adherents could be truly committed to the work of the church. Her difficult marriage—which was arranged by her father—may have also contributed to her turn toward celibacy.

In 1774, Lee, her husband, and several other relatives and followers left England for New York in order to escape persecution. Once in America, the group split, with some settling along the Hudson River at Watervliet near Albay, while Mother Ann remained in New York City. Her misfortunes continued, however, when her husband left her for another woman. At that point, she joined her fellow Shakers at Watervliet, which would become the heart of the Shaker faith in America.

Although always small, Shakers grew during the early 1800s, with the Sodus Bay community being founded in 1826. At that time, the community consisted of seventy-two members. The community continued to grow over the next several years, but the possibility of a canal being constructed through their property in the mid-1830s prompted them to sell their land and move to Groveland.

The Groveland community developed relatively quickly after the land was purchased in 1836. New structures were built in quick succession: a Ministry Shop, a log broom shop, a two-story East Family Office and a three-story Meeting House, which was completed in 1842. Over the next twenty years, the Groveland Shakers also build grist and saw mills as well as a Blacksmith’s shop. When the Genessee Valley Canal was completed in 1841, it gave the Groveland Shakers access to a shipping connection and an outlet for the goods they produced.

In subsequent years, the community declined for various reasons. In some instances, romantic relationships developed between members, prompting them to leave. Questionable leadership decisions and financial missteps also contributed to declining membership, and a series of fires over a number of years left the community deeply in debt. In 1892, the decision was made to sell the property to New York state for the use of the Craig Colony for Epileptics. The colony’s furniture and equipment, as well some of its few remaining members, went to Watervliet. 

Exhibits, LIvingston County Historical Society . Accessed June 20th 2022. https://www.livingstoncountyhistoricalsociety.com/exhibits

Martin, John H . Saints, Sinners, and Reformers: The Burned Over District Revisited , Crooked Lake Review . Accessed June 20th 2022. https://www.crookedlakereview.com/books/saints_sinners/martin6.html.

Site of the Groveland Shaker Community , Historical Marker Database . Accessed June 20th 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=87748.