Shaker Heritage Society — Attraction in Town of Colonie

I don't know why schools are not shuttling their students to this historic site. Mother Ann Lee was a charismatic woman at a time when women had their place in our male dominated society and she bravely fought the church, societal norms and faced persecution, imprisonment, stoning, whipping and mocking to practice her faith. She created settlements all over the Eastern seaboard and had thousands of followers. Many streets and buildings are named after the Shakers and most people don't even know why. The Shakers were on the forefront of technology - inventing the circular saw, push and sweep brooms, herbal medicine, gardening and farming techniques, seed and herbal catalogs and shipping through the mail and, they were the first in this area to install a telephone.

The Shaker site, garden and grounds are free to explore and visit any day, any hour. But, go during their gift shop hours so you can visit the buildings and peruse the gift shop. Buy something or leave a donation to support the heritage society for once these buildings are gone, they're gone forever. The Shakers once owned 600 acres of land but over the years have had it whittled down by politics, expansion and the need for money. Ann Lee's burial grave was even moved to accommodate a...

I know the volunteers here do their very best operating this site, but it is a shame Albany doesn't provide them with adequate budget to maintain the place as it should be. This is the original Shaker site in America and the founder, Ann Lee is buried here. A place of such historic importance deserves far better preservation than this one is getting. Every other Shaker village in the country has a private foundation to see to its upkeep, but this one is owned by the city of Albany and it is starved for the funds it needs. I love the place and visit it frequently, but it is heart-breaking to see many of the buildings needing repair. It would be nice if the volunteers would organize some "Hands to work, hearts to God" days, when people from the community could come together to apply fresh paint, make some simple repairs, and so forth. But, back to the review--the museum and gift shop are very good. The orchard and cemetery are worth the short walk, the critters in the barn are fun, and the herb garden is very well maintained. They have a holiday craft fair coming up that lasts four weeks, has some great craft item, at very good prices, which I recommend highly. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable,...

If you enjoy history museums, then I would definitely recommend visiting here. You have an opportunity to walk around outside checking out the buildings, garden, and learning more about how the Shakers lived. We were lucky enough to be visiting the area from out of state when they had their annual Market going on. The Christmas Market provided a variety of handcrafted gifts but you also see and read more history about the Shakers. Inside where the market is held, I paid attention to pictures on the wall, artifacts from their past, and even the architecture of the meeting house. The staff were all so friendly and engaging that my husband and I enjoyed our time there and we shopped more than we planned, lol! Also of note, the bathrooms, which had been updated, were very clean as well as accessible. I was happy to find the entrance inside the market was a ramp which made it much easier to navigate with my cane. Again, I'm happy I looked this up and decided to...