Pleasant Hill, Kentucky
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Shakertown at Pleasant Hill Historic District
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The Trustees' Office served both as administrative headquarters for the community and as a guest house.
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| Location | Pleasant Hill, Kentucky |
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| Coordinates | 37°49′05″N 84°44′25″W / 37.818017°N 84.740317°WCoordinates: 37°49′05″N 84°44′25″W / 37.818017°N 84.740317°W |
| Built | 1805 |
| Architect | Burnett, Micajah |
| Architectural style | Other |
| NRHP Reference # | 71000353 |
| Added to NRHP | November 11, 1971 |
Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, USA, is the site of a Shaker religious community that was active from 1805 to 1910. Following a preservationist effort that began in 1961, the site, now a National Historic Landmark, has become a popular tourist destination. Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, or Shakertown, as it is known by residents of the area, is located 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Lexington, in Kentucky's Bluegrass region. It is a National Historic Landmark District.
The Second Great Awakening or Kentucky Revival began in the late 1700s and continued into the early 19th century. A revival was characterized by large camp meetings, where ministers from various Protestant groups would preach for long periods, with music and dancing often adding to the emotional pitch of the congregation. These religious gatherings sometimes drew thousands of observers and participants in the Ohio Valley of Kentucky. They were a form of community for people living scattered in relative isolation on the frontier the rest of the time.
The powerful interest in religion sweeping the region inspired the Shakers to broaden their ministry into Kentucky. Lucy Wright, the head of the Shakers' parent Ministry at New Lebanon, New York, decided to send missionaries west.
On January 1, 1805, with eleven Shaker communities already established in New York and New England, three Shaker missionaries, John Meacham, Benjamin Seth Youngs (older brother of Isaac N. Youngs), and Issachar Bates, set out to find new converts. Traveling more than a thousand miles, most of the way on foot, they joined the pioneers then pouring into the western lands by way of Cumberland Gap and the Ohio River.
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