Picture of the day - October 26, 2007

An original Shaker house - Hancock, Massachusetts

Photo courtesy of C. A. Swinson. Although there were approximately 6,000 members of New England's Shaker religious sect in 1850, their number has dwindled to almost nothing in the years since. The Shakers were quite industrious in their day, creating a style of architecture and craftsmanship that is still very popular today. Only a relative handful of original Shaker buildings are still standing today, one of which is featured in today's picture. This beautiful photograph was taken by Mr. C.A. Swinson, and the following is his story behind the image: "This picture was taken at Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, MA. Hancock Shaker Village is a 1,200 acre living farm and museum housing one of the largest collections of Shaker buildings and artifacts in the world. Shaker buildings that were used by both men and women, as seen above, typically had separate entrances and stairways to segregate the sexes. This was in following with their religious beliefs that dictated men and women should be kept separate. This picture was taken with a Canon 40D digital SLR equipped with a Canon 17-40/4.0 EF-L USM lens. It was taken October 13th, 2007 at approximately 11:00am."    --C.A. Swinson Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"