Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is a village of many buildings and traditional style homes that were inhabited by shakers in the 19th century. The property is 3000 acres and is Kentucky’s largest National Historic Landmark. Standing in present day Harrodsburg, Kentucky (25 miles from Lexington), this site is a popular tourist attraction.

This property has many aspects that draw people in. I found the history of shakers, whom were a religious group that branched from the Quakers, to be the prominent focus at this location, but they threw in a modern twist. Shaker Village has many learning and interactive opportunities for their patrons.This makes learning history easy, and protects the original 34 structures that lie on the property. Other focuses this village has is sustainability practices and hospitality for their guests.

The stakes in this project could be the distance the property is from the University or the accessibility of information. Being a historical site and a tourist site, it would be easy to gather information and interview people at Shaker Village. It could be more difficult to get in depth information on some of their modern practices, but those practices could be discussed as minor parts of a project that focuses mainly on history. This topic could give a group versatile research routes and would be good to consider for a final project.

http://shakervillageky.org/about-us/