🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Canterbury Shaker Village

(Explore the history and landscape of the United States as we approach the 250th anniversary of American Independence. Get out your atlas and almanac and follow along!)

New Hampshire is our homeschool state-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today with your students learning about one of New Hampshire’s most important historic places: Canterbury Shaker Village, which preserves and interprets the history of the Shaker religious community over two centuries.

“Canterbury Shaker Village, in New Hampshire, was established by Benjamin Whitcher in 1792. A Shaker convert himself, he harbored and protected local Shakers from persecution, eventually donating the land on which the village was built. Canterbury’s formal call-to-order came in the summer of 1792 with the construction of the Meeting House.”

[The community] prospered over the following century. Economic pursuits included farming, livestock breeding, mills, and the production of seeds and herbal medicines. Additionally, Elder Blinn established a small print shop, making Canterbury the publishing center for northern Shaker communities.

Canterbury resembled most other Shaker villages built at the same time. It had all of the principle buildings required of a strictly utilitarian communal society: dwelling houses, shops, stables, a laundry, a school, and an infirmary. The Meeting House, designed by Moses Johnson, played a primary role in the day-to-day functioning of the community. Today, the Canterbury Shaker Village includes 25 exceptionally well-preserved buildings surrounded by approximately 700 acres of gardens, fields, ponds, and forest. (nps.gov)

You can find a wealth of additional information about the Village’s history, landscape, location(s), and visitor facilities on the webpage for Canterbury Shaker Village from the National Park Service, and also on the Village’s page on Wikipedia.

Explore America’s National Parks, National Historical Parks, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, and more via Wikipedia and via the U.S. National Park Service’s website today.

What American treasures have you and your students been exploring in your homeschool this Cygnus Term? 🇺🇸

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool Geography posts featuring important natural and historical sites in the United States. Print your own copy of our River Houses American Heritage Calendar and follow along with us, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌎

❡ We set to-day a votive stone: If you want a great long-term history and geography project for your homeschool, explore the Historical Marker Database online (hmdb.org) and make a plan to find all the markers that are listed in your local area. Add any new ones you know of that are missing, and add new photos or descriptions for the ones already included. Your students will gain a better appreciation for your local community and will learn a wealth of new information about history and geography. 🏛

❡ Print this little lesson: Down at the bottom of this post you’ll find a special “Print” button that will let you create a neat and easy-to-read copy of this little lesson, and it will even let you edit and delete sections you don’t want or need (such as individual images or footnotes). Give it a try today! 🖨

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses atlas and almanac for more information about any of our homeschool states-of-the-week. The almanac has detailed profiles of all the U.S. states and territories, and the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found. 📚

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

❡ Support our work: If you enjoy our educational materials, please support us by starting your regular Amazon shopping from our very own homeschool teaching supplies page. When you click through from our page, any purchase you make earns us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping us to keep going and growing! 🛒