The Sister's Shop with a Mounting Platform in the foreground
According to the Journal of Events, the red stucco-and-brick building was built around 1851 and was used for a variety of functions, including a woodshed. The current stucco is a modern replacement for the original red stucco. The house has its original woodwork and built-in cabinetry. The kitchen originally had special equipment for making applesauce, now gone. The current garage had a dirt floor and may have been used to house wagons. Trap doors in every level, the traces of skylights in the attic, and the oversize doors suggest that the Shakers brought large quantities of materials in and out of the building and some plants may have been dried in the attic. They planted the field on the south side of South Shaker Road with cabbage roses into the 20th century so it is probable that the Sisters also made rosewater, as well as applesauce and many other products. Joseph Hammond wrote in his journal:
We hire our tin cans made at Shirley Village by Norris & Warner-one of them comes on and solders up the cans for us. We put up tomato, Peach, Cherries and Quince.
Brothers’ Shop
This brick-veneer structure was directly behind the Sister’s Shop and was similar in size. It was collapsing in the 1950s and was eventually demolished in the early 1970s. (Pictures can be seen at the Historical Society.) A garden is now in the location of the shop; the foundation stones still in place show the size of the structure. The long stone retaining wall, which also extends behind the Sisters’ Shop, is now exposed for all to appreciate.
“Trap doors in every level, the traces of skylights in the attic, and the oversized doors suggest that large quantities of materials were brought in and out of the building and some plants may have been dried in the attic.”
We hire our tin cans made at Shirley Village by Norris & Warner-one of them comes on and solders up the cans for us. We put up tomato, Peach, Cherries and Quince.
Brothers’ Shop
This brick-veneer structure was directly behind the Sister’s Shop and was similar in size. It was collapsing in the 1950s and was eventually demolished in the early 1970s. (Pictures can be seen at the Historical Society.) A garden is now in the location of the shop; the foundation stones still in place show the size of the structure. The long stone retaining wall, which also extends behind the Sisters’ Shop, is now exposed for all to appreciate.
“Trap doors in every level, the traces of skylights in the attic, and the oversized doors suggest that large quantities of materials were brought in and out of the building and some plants may have been dried in the attic.”
