Visiting the Hancock Shaker Village – The Berkshires, Massachusetts

October 2024

Visiting the Hancock Shaker Village – The Berkshires, Massachusetts

When researching our trip to the Berkshires, the Hancock Shaker Village came up multiple times as a must stop. I will be honest, this did not interest me at first but I marked it down for our final day of the trip in the event we had a new found interest and time to do so. And I have to say, we had a really great visit here and I am glad we ended up doing so! 

The Hancock Shaker Village is a preserved community that now exists as a museum. Known as the Shakers due to the shaking movement they made during religious worship, this group is known for their dedicated work ethic and focus on community equality. The Shakers lived modestly but worked with efficiencies and did not shy away from new techniques and technologies to improve their craft. In fact, they would send members into the modern world to learn a skill they requited, such as medicine, to then bring back to the community. The quality of the Shakers work was well known in many areas including metal working, wood working, weaving, and more. The community took care of each other and offered a new beginning for people of any background. The downside and ultimate near extinction of the Shakers is that they took a vow of celibacy. 

I did not know what to expect from our visit but we arrived to a decent crowded in the parking lot shortly before 11AM. The entry fee is $20 a person and we received a map with details on the activities for the day which included various talks and demonstrations of Shaker life. Open April through December, the village even has advertisements for events throughout the year including concerts, demonstrations and even a wintertime light display, so make sure to check when you are visiting the Berkshires. 

Our first stop was directly next to the welcome desk – an intro video to the Shakers and the Hancock Village. I certainly encourage you not to skip this video when you first arrive as it is very informative and sets up the rest of your experience at the village. 

We decided to move in an organized fashion around the very large property – there are 20 historic buildings and over 750 acres of land which has various gardens and livestock farmland. We started at the Garden Tool Shed and after a quick walk through stopped in the Laundry and Machine Shop where we got to observe the use of water power to drive machinery.

Our next stops in the Meetinghouse and Brick Dwelling were especially interesting as we got to observe everyday life in the meeting room, dining room, kitchen, storage areas for food and supplies, and sleeping arrangements. We even accidentally timed it to catch a talk about the Shakers which was very informative and enjoyable. 

Our final two stops were watched a blacksmith demonstration where we observed a staff member making hooks in the traditional way along with the Round Stone Barn where the livestock is tended too. Yes, they have a very active livestock population here.

We did not have time on this visit to visit all 20 buildings and barely scratched the surface on the demonstrations and talks they had throughout the day during our two-hour visit. It is easy to spend several hours here and not get to everything. I would definitely consider adding this to your Berkshires itinerary if you are traveling with the right age group that would enjoy it as I suspect kids of a certain age may not find this as entertaining even though they have an interactive section dedicated to kids. I was surprised how much we enjoyed it and am glad we had time to see the Hancock Shaker Village. 

Continue reading about our weekend in the Berkshires here!

Read all blog posts for the Berkshires here!

See our complete itinerary here!

Planning your trip? Check out the Perfect Fall Itinerary to the Berkshires here!