Pennsylvania Amish

For many, Pennsylvania (and specifically Lancaster County) is synonymous with the Amish.  But PA, of course, is more than just Lancaster. In fact, the state is home to the largest number of individual Amish settlements, with over 50. Read more about those diverse communities in the new Pennsylvania Amish State Guide entry.

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From a Lancaster friend’s home: Sharpening minds and no. 2′s: Sigh.  I remember spending a bit more time with these, once: Here’s the full list of Amish home interior photos.

Continue reading Inside an Amish home: Library and reading room

A picture in need of a caption.  Taken outside of Shartlesville, Berks County, Pennsylvania. I’m still not sure–would meeting this pair make me smile…or give me nightmares? Either way, one more reason to love America. Photo credit: Colin Grey

Continue reading Giant Amish People…in a Cage

This October will mark 5 years since the Nickel Mines shootings.  The Amish forgiveness story was hugely powerful and quickly spread around the world, in part because it was so unusual.  People just don’t forgive, so quickly, after a crime of such magnitude. Five years on, one wonders how much the lessons of the Amish [...]

Continue reading Lessons of Amish forgiveness

I resisted Facebook for a good while, but finally got a profile back in 2009.  Since then, I’ve often thought about the above question. What got me pondering this today, though, was an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (“Amish learn value of networking“).   Amish are using social networking to market their products, with the [...]

Continue reading Has Facebook made your life better?

I know it’s a bit late for snowy photos, but I wanted to share one more batch of shots from the Big Valley area of Pennsylvania.  Big Valley is home to three Amish groups: Nebraska, Renno, and Byler Amish.                   If you missed the first set, here [...]

Continue reading Another 10 views of the Big Valley Amish

The small farm has a special place in our national consciousness.  For some, farming is a noble, even spiritual undertaking.  The scrappy small farmer is a symbol of American perseverance. But family farming has long been in decline.  Most of us know agriculture in the abstract.  I was not raised on a farm but like [...]

Continue reading Why do we revere farmland?

Northkill was an Amish settlement existing in Berks County, Pennsylvania in the 1700s.  It was home to some of the earliest Amish settlers in the New World. It was also the site of a brutal massacre still recounted by Amish today. During the French and Indian war, Amishman Jacob Hochstetler’s home came under attack by [...]

Continue reading Northkill Amish Massacre

The FDA has taken legal action to stop Amish farmer Dan Allgyer from shipping raw milk across state lines, according to this article. This case against Allgyer has been going on for quite some time.  Allgyer’s Lancaster farm was visited/inspected/raided by federal agents a year ago. Allgyer has been selling his milk in Maryland and DC, [...]

Continue reading Amish raw milk sting

Another photo today, of an inspirational wall decoration from an outhouse at an Amish school (thanks again to Karen Johnson-Weiner). If there is any place that could use a little livening up, I guess it is the outhouse.  And why not include an uplifting message?  Actually I guess this is more of a lesson in [...]

Continue reading Inside an Amish…Outhouse