The Church Family Infirmary at Canterbury Shaker Village has lived many lives: first as an office and a library, then as the Shaker Hospital that’s believed to be one of the oldest and best preserved medical facilities in New Hampshire.
Now, with a nearly half-a-million-dollar Save America’s Treasures grant from the National Parks Service’s Historic Preservation Fund, the structure will see some of its “immediate preservation needs” addressed, according to Shaker Village.
The grant, totaling $410,000 sourced from oil and gas leases the government maintains on the Outer Continental Shelf, will finance a series of improvements expected to last through 2028. The preservation project will include repairs to the building’s roof and foundation, restoration work on windows, doors and trim, and fixes to bring the building into compliance with ADA standards.
“The Canterbury Shakers created a novel health care space that welcomed progressive medical methods, offered care to neighbors and townspeople that extended beyond their tight-knit religious community,” said Shaker Village spokesperson Garrett Bethmann. “We’re eager and excited to update this building to ensure it continues to educate guests and offer a fascinating glimpse into the significance of this building.”
The Infirmary is the only hospital available for public tours across all Shaker museums, according to Bethmann.
The structure, built in 1811, was used as an office and library prior to its conversion into a Shaker Hospital in 1849. After 1894, the first floor housed nurses quarters, sitting room, a dentist’s office and a pharmacy. Meanwhile, patients’ rooms upstairs were fully equipped with running water.
The last nurse at Canterbury Shaker Village died in 1937, according to the organization, after which the building was utilized as living quarters until the 1970s.
Currently, visitors to the Infirmary learn about aspects of the Shakers’ holistic approach to medicine, the preponderance of women practicing medicine and their end-of-life care, all traits that were “progressive for their eras,” Bethmann said.