Lancaster County
Lancaster Welcomes Refugees
In September 2019, Welcoming America, an NGO that encourages communities to embrace immigrants and refugees, designated Lancaster as a “certified welcoming city.” It became the first place in Pennsylvania to be so named. A news story in October 2017 indicated that for a long time Lancaster has welcomed refugees and others who are different, a […]
Amish Farmers Promote Environmental Stewardship
An informal association of farmers along Mill Creek in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is promoting changes on their properties that are helping improve water quality in the stream. An article published on August 29 in the Bay Journal describes the work of the Mill Creek Preservation Association, most of whose members are Amish. It nicely supplements […]
Development Proposal Threatens the Amish
The lush green and brown farmlands of central Lancaster County and the lives of the Amish and Old Order Mennonite farming families who live there are seriously threatened by a proposed development. Opponents of the development claim that the horse and buggy culture of the Plain People will be disrupted if not destroyed by all […]
New Book on the Amish
Donald Kraybill, who is undoubtedly the leading authority on Amish life, has just written another book on his favorite subject. Last week, LancasterOnline reviewed his new work, Simply Amish, which was published by Herald Press on June 26. It is a popularly-written, slender book of only 64 pages that is designed to answer questions about […]
The Amish Are Protecting the Land
Five years ago, the Pennsylvania environmental media highlighted the path-breaking efforts of a Lancaster County Amish farmer to protect his soils and the streams near his property from erosion and pollution. The efforts of farmer Raymond King to retard soil erosion, plant in contours, and, more than that, to adopt advanced techniques for protecting the […]
Lancaster County Exhibits an Amish Spirit
Rick Gray, Mayor of the city of Lancaster in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, said that welcoming refugees is a way of supporting religious diversity and toleration. That attitude is “in [the city’s] genes,” according to Mr. Gray. Last week he explained to a reporter from Deutsche Welle, the prominent international German media organization, that refugees are […]
Highway Accidents with Amish Vehicles
Almost every week a familiar story pops up while searching for news about peaceful societies: an Amish buggy was hit by a motor vehicle and several people were injured—or worse. On Wednesday last week, a motorist in Wayne County, Ohio, hit a buggy, seriously injured a child and, the unique aspect of that story, quickly […]
Why the Amish Relocate [journal article review]
Because of the high growth rate of Amish society—their population doubles every 20.5 years—they are always on the lookout for more land to expand onto. Since they prefer to remain a rural society, they are generally interested in moving as groups of families to new farming areas. A recent research article by Cory Anderson and […]
