• David Duprey / AP

    Amish women ride in a buggy on their way home from shopping in an Amish country store in Centerville, N.Y. Centerville, a town south of Buffalo, has an established Amish community. Longstanding Amish population centers in Pennsylvania and Ohio have lost families while Amish numbers in New York have boomed in the past two years, according to a new study by Elizabethtown College researchers.

    Amish communities booming in western New York State

    By Rich Shulman

    The long lens foreshortening (and some planning) really make this photo.

    As AP reported:

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Affordable rural farmland and proximity to traditional population centers are driving a recent boomlet in new Amish colonies in New York state, according to a study by Elizabethtown College researchers.

    The Amish, many of them from Ohio or Pennsylvania, have established 10 new settlements in New York since the start of 2010 — growth that doubles any other state. Total population there has grown by nearly a third in the past two years, to 13,000.

    The first Amish districts in New York were established in the Conewango Valley in 1949, but in-migration amounted to a trickle until about a decade ago. As recently as 1991, there were just 3,900 Amish in the state.

    Comment

    Show more
    Explore related topics: , , , ,

  • The botoxing of America: Is she losing her wrinkles?

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    A few weeks ago, I posted a couple of pictures from Ruby's bar, which is set to close on the boardwalk of Coney Island, N.Y., along with several other near-legendary mom-and-pop businesses there. This evening I ran across these pictures of the bookmobile and the beautiful, old home. The bookmobile has already seen its last day, and it sounds as though the mansion will soon follow.

    Things that have long stood in America give her character, her wrinkles, if you will. Are we soon to forget who we are and where we came from as a result of this continued botoxing of our landscape with shopping malls and housing developments? It's a shame that the hope of making a quick buck or the cutting of funds in certain areas frequently precipitates the destruction of buildings, businesses and traditions that we will not likely see in a form we can recognize...much less again.

     Am I being overly dramatic? What are your thoughts?

    Chris Stewart / Dayton Daily News

    This Nov. 22 photo shows the Dille limestone mansion in Centerville, Ohio. According to the Dayton Daily News, the house will likely be demolished to make way for a multi-million commercial, retail and residential development. Developer George Oberer has filed a request to demolish the landmark home that has been vacant for a decade. At least two public hearings will be held before the home can be demolished.

    Jefferson County, Texas / AP

    Jefferson County Texas's first bookmobile is seen in this 1935 photo provided by the Jefferson County Library. Jefferson County commissioners voted in July budget hearings to close the 80-year-old library and bookmobile because of cost concerns and low usage rates. The library's final day was Wednesday Nov. 24.