{"nrhp_refnum":"73002247","name":"Watervliet Shaker Historic District (Boundary Increase)","other_names":["See Also:Watervliet Shaker Historic District"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Stump Pond, NE of Colonie","address_restricted":false,"city":"Colonie","county":"Albany County","state":"NY","lat":42.73960559050005,"lon":-73.82046230241946,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-09-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of three Shaker community clusters (Church Family, South Family and West Family) about seven miles northwest of Albany in Colonie, Albany County, New York, with an amended boundary adding the Stump Pond area. The buildings date mainly from the early to mid-nineteenth century.","why_significant":"The nomination argues this was the first Shaker settlement in the United States and the place from which Shaker influence spread. The twenty-two surviving buildings show Shaker architecture, the seed and broom industries, inventions and the spatial layout of a Shaker family. The Stump Pond addition documents the community's ice and water supply systems.","narrative":"Seven miles northwest of Albany in Colonie, this district preserves the site of the first Shaker settlement in the United States. Mother Ann Lee and seven followers arrived in 1774 and bought land in a swampy forest, which the Shakers gradually drained, creating the Mill Pond. The district takes in three clusters of buildings, the Church, South and West Families, with twenty-two buildings in all, most built in the nineteenth century in brick or frame. The community prospered in the early 1800s through garden seeds and corn brooms, and a large three-and-a-half story broom shop at the West Family reflects that trade. Inventions such as an improved broom-handle lathe are credited to Watervliet. The Shakers left the West Family in 1915 and sold the Church Family property to the State in 1926. The South Family stayed in Shaker hands until 1938. An amended boundary adds Stump Pond, a roughly seven-acre pond that supplied ice, and traces of a Shaker water pipe network. Archeological sites of demolished buildings lie throughout the district.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Brethren's Shop (Church Family) inscribed as built 1822 by Bruster and Allen, Master Masons","architectural_style":"Shaker style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Mixed condition and use: the Church Family buildings are used as the county home for the aged, with other parts in private residential, agricultural and park use. Some buildings are altered, and the South Family store is ruinous after a 1964 fire.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:40.019163-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/73002247.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002247/7590a0df45-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002247/7590a0df45-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Original uploader was Akrubin at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shaker-mill-stone.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Original uploader was Akrubin at en.wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shaker-mill-stone.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"73001160","name":"Watervliet Shaker Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/watervliet-shaker-historic-district-73001160/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316379","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watervliet_Shaker_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7974558"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/albany-county/watervliet-shaker-historic-district-boundary-increase-73002247/"}