Lake Pleasant

Lake Pleasant

Lake Pleasant, Massachusetts, is one of five villages in the town of Montague in Franklin County, approximately ninety miles west of Boston. It claims to be the oldest continually existing Spiritualist community in the United States, older even that Lily Dale Assembly in New York. Lake Pleasant was founded in 1870 (Lily Dale has been a community since 1879) as a summertime recreational community in the woods of the Upper Pioneer Valley. Within a couple of years Spiritualists had begun to gather there, making it a “tent city.” By 1874, the New England Spiritualist Camp-meeting Association had been organized and was attracting Spiritualists from around the world. From a bustling town of 3,000, today Lake Pleasant comprises approximately 300 residents.

According to David James (Spirit and Spa, 2003), “The National Spiritual Alliance was formed after members of the New England Spiritualist Campmeeting Association were unable to resolve philosophical differences (primarily regarding reincarnation) and decided to follow separate Spiritualist paths. Members of the New England Spiritualist Campmeeting Association who did not believe in reincarnation—contending that reincarnation is retrogressive—continued affiliation with the National Association of Spiritualist Churches, while members who believed that reincarnation was a learning vehicle which assisted the soul’s progression toward perfection split from the New England Spiritualist Campmeeting Association and formed the independent TNSA. Lake Pleasant was thus the home of rival Spiritualist organizations, each with its own temple and followers, until the New England Spiritualist Campmeeting Association temple burned in 1955 and was not rebuilt. The New England Spiritualist Campmeeting Association continued operations until 1976, before donating its remaining property to the Town of Montague and disbanding.”

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