Whitewater Shaker Settlement

Whitewater Shaker Settlement is a group of farm and community buildings along Oxford Road near New Haven, in Hamilton County, Ohio. Shakers founded it in 1825 on the Dry Fork of the Whitewater River, starting with about 18 people, 40 acres and log buildings. Over time the community grew to more than 1,400 acres and was divided into North, Center and South Families, each with its own buildings. Residents sold garden seeds, brooms and mats, and raised fine livestock. Surviving structures include an 1827 brick meeting house, a brick dwelling house of 1832-33, a trustees' office of 1855, a broom shop of 1876, barns and smaller outbuildings. Of roughly 28 Shaker structures left in Ohio, those at Whitewater are described as the best in condition and architectural merit. The meeting house is the only original Shaker religious building remaining in the state. The Shakers owned the farm through the first decade of the 20th century.