The Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon is proud to announce that it has received a $150,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Fund of New York State to purchase an historic agricultural holding adjacent to the North Family called the North Pastures. The 61 acres of the North Pastures is currently in disuse and largely reforested. The Museum’s purchase of this land will expand the site to allow for better access, modern facilities and enhanced programming.
This is a huge step forward as the Museum works with other organizations to continue to protect Mount Lebanon’s historic landscape (at its height some 6,000 acres) and meet greater conservation goals of the area. Purchasing the North Pastures will create ¼ mile frontage for the otherwise hidden site on Route 20, drawing more visitors to the historic center of the Shaker experience in America. It will also provide much needed open space for the community and allow for new collection and visitor facilities to be built outside of the North Family’s historic village core.
Most of all, the North Pastures will help the Shaker Museum better share the story of the American Shakers to a wider and more diverse audience. These pastures once supported the North Family’s extensive agricultural business and currently consist of walled pastures, remnants of the abandoned Lebanon Spring Branch of the Albany-Pittsfield Post Road and other significant historic features which will be highlighted in the Shaker Museum’s 2013 summer programs.
