This place was the site of the first Shaker settlement in the United States, founded in 1776. The first Shakers in America were immigrants seeking religious freedom who followed their leader, "Mother" Ann Lee from Manchester, England, to New York City in 1774, shortly before the American Revolution, and then moved north in 1776 to settle on land now occupied by the Albany International Airport. Ann Lee taught that the Christ spirit contained both male and female qualities and would one day return to walk among humanity. She and her followers called themselves The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or Believers, while observers called them Shaking Quakers, a name later shortened to Shakers. In worship they sang, stamped, twirled, and spoke in tongues as they sought to drive out evil spirits and communicate directly with God's love. Inspired by radical religious beliefs, they lived by principles of gender and racial equality, confession of sins, pacifism, celibacy, and communal living. On these lands they eventually established four Families: the Church Family, South Family, West Family, and North Family. During the early years the community grew rapidly, and by the 1820s the Niskayuna Watervliet Shakers owned or leased several thousand acres extending eastward to include an island in the Mohawk River. At one time the Church Family site alone had more than twenty buildings. Today, nine structures remain along with the apple orchard, mill pond, and cemetery, forming the heart of the Watervliet (Albany) Shaker National Historic District, which extends to the South, West, and North Family sites.
