{"nrhp_refnum":"87001785","name":"Tyringham Shaker Settlement Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Jerusalem Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Tyringham","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.24678200000005,"lon":-73.22282420913757,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district along Jerusalem Road in Tyringham, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, containing the remains of the state's fourth Shaker community, which occupied the site from 1792 to 1874. It includes 15 buildings, 6 structures and 11 sites arranged in Church, North and South family clusters.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the district as an exceptionally well-preserved reminder of a Shaker community that lived on the hillside until 1874, when it became the first major Shaker society to close. It is significant for its architecture, social history, religion, community planning and development, and historic archaeology. Its dormitory, workshops, barns, dams and mill foundations show how the Shakers organized living, work and water power.","narrative":"Along Jerusalem Road on the slope of Sky Hill in Tyringham, a string of brick and wooden buildings, stone dams and foundations marks the site of Massachusetts' fourth Shaker community. The Shakers lived here from 1792 until 1874, organized into Church, North and South families. The Church Family core includes the ca. 1800 Dormitory, the Elders Dwelling of 1823, the Cobbler Shop, a Workshop and the Great Barn, mostly vernacular buildings showing the shift from Federal to Greek Revival styles. Outlying clusters were built around water power: dry-laid stone dams, mill foundations at Shaker Pond, and the remains of the multipurpose Red Shop. The community's meetinghouse and seed house were moved elsewhere in the 1900s. The district was listed for its architecture, social history, religion, planning and archaeology. Its landscape and ruins show how a farming and manufacturing society worked until its dwindling membership closed the settlement, the first major Shaker society to do so.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1770-1874","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early Republic - Federal; Mid 19th Century - Greek Revival; Late Victorian - Italianate","criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Many original buildings are gone and survive only as foundations or ruins. Several surviving structures are in residential or other adapted use, such as the Carriage Barn used as a garage and the Great Barn's cattle sheds, which now house an apartment.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.149326-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7941/63794148/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87001785.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001785/f26ecec35b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001785/f26ecec35b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jack E. Boucher","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tyringham_Shaker_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jack E. Boucher</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tyringham_Shaker_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794148","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyringham_Shaker_Settlement_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7861525"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/tyringham-shaker-settlement-historic-district-87001785/"}