[3] The first European settlers in town were Jonathan Paddleford and family who arrived, after the successful conclusion of the French and Indian War, between 1765 and 1772.

Established in 1793 and called "Chosen Vale", the village was subdivided into several "Families", with men and women leading pious, celibate and industrious lives.

Although the genders shared dormitories, like Enfield's Great Stone Dwelling built between 1837 and 1841, the sexes used separate doors and stairways.

They practiced ecstatic singing and dancing, an expression of their worship, which earned them the appellation of Shaking Quakers, or Shakers.

Several trades operated at the village, from agriculture and packaging of seeds, to the manufacture of brooms, brushes, spinning-wheels, and furniture.

But growing employment opportunities created by the Industrial Revolution, as near as the mill town of Lebanon, enticed away potential and practicing church members.

Eventually the village would close and, in 1927, be sold to the La Salette Brotherhood of Montreal, a Catholic order noted for its Christmas display.

The museum steadily expanded its footprint by purchases of key Shaker properties, culminating in the acquisition of all the remaining La Salette buildings and land in September 2023 when the Catholic order left Enfield.

Mascoma Lake, in the west, represents Enfield's lowest elevation at 751 feet (229 m) above sea level.