Lancaster County Pennsylvania Oct 24-25

This is Amish-Mennonite country.  I don’t know much about them, but what I have seen on TV and the movies.  The country is rolling fields with tidy farms and antique shops along the road.  The houses are large and look to be modern with cars and farm machinery in the yards.  What few people I’ve seen, dress in an old style, long dresses, white bonnets, plain pants and coats.  We saw an old couple completely dressed in black, pushing a wheel chair with an even older woman in black, down the highway.  On the way to church I suppose. 

We’ve seen many carriages, most of them completely enclosed, so the passengers were not visible.  We did pass one open carriage with two teenage girls.  It was a small carriage, pulled by a pony, the girls seemed to be enjoying their Sunday drive. 

The villages here have interesting names, Compass, Blue  Ball, Bird in the Hand,  Virginville, Intercourse, and Paradise.  It seems to me that there must be deep passion beneath those long dark dresses and straw hats.  I have the definite impression that this is a mixed neighborhood with Baptists and Presbyterians  mixed in with the Amish and Mennonite. 

Interlude in Intercourse

It is all very bucolic and definitely different from any other American suburbs and countryside.   We visited a quilt museum in Intercourse and the hand work was magnificent.  Next door was an antique shop full of authentic antiques made in China.  Just down the road from here is the town of York, which is the home of Harley-Davidson.  We passed the motorcycle factory on the way.

We took a day trip to the Brandywine Valley hoping to visit the Wyeth Museum, but it was closed on Mondays.  Instead we went to the Hagley Museum which is the home and gun powder factory of the Du Pont’s.  The Du Pont’s started the gun powder works in 1803 and it operated until 1916.  It was powered by the water from the Brandywine River.  Using canals to route water over water wheels, they ran grist mills that ground up charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur to make black power.  Each mill could grind up to 500lbs at a time.  Dupont had 20 mills along the river to become the largest manufacturer of black powder in the world.  It was mostly used in construction and mining.  Only about 20% was used by the military.  The highlights of the tour were to watch the 16 ton wheels being driven by the water wheel,  and the explosion of 1 gram of black powder.  In addition there was a demonstration  of water powered machine tools used to make parts for broken down machinery.