Elizabethtown College News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12/6/04
Contact: Mary Dolheimer, director of marketing and media relations, 717-361-1587, dolheimerm@etown.edu
Amish expanding geographic hold on Lancaster County, says E-town College prof
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Old Order Amish have rapidly expanded their geographic hold on Lancaster County, according to a recent study by Elizabethtown College sociology professor Conrad L. Kanagy.
Kanagy’s study examines the growth of Amish farm ownership in Lancaster County from 1984 to 2003 and builds on research that he previously conducted of farm sales from 1984 to 1997. His new data -- gathered with assistance from student researchers Kyle Kopko of Enola, Pa., and Courtney Fellows of Pleasantville, N.Y.--shows a net gain of 89 farms and 6,833 acres during the six years of the new study. Added to previous data from earlier studies, Kanagy concludes that the Amish have gained a total of 266 new farms and 21,659 acres in Lancaster County over the past 20 years.
"The Amish continue to strengthen their cultural and geographical imprint on Lancaster County," Kanagy said. "They now own 1,432 farms, or 41.5 percent of all Lancaster County farms, those consisting of 25 acres or more." The southern region of the county continued to grow disproportionately to other regions, gaining 44 new Amish farms, followed by eastern Lancaster County with 15 and southwestern townships with 14.
While the Amish are rapidly gaining farms, they rarely sell their own to anyone outside of their community, according to Kanagy. The number of farms leaving the community has declined over the two decades. While some Amish are participating in County land preservation efforts, "the vast number of farms under the control of the Amish assures the preservation of Lancaster County farmland well into the future," Kanagy said.
Kanagy estimates that the value of farms gained by the Amish over the last 20 years is currently worth more than $200 million and that the value of all Amish farmland in Lancaster County is just under $1 trillion. "The market value of all this farmland is astounding," Kanagy said. "What’s so amazing is that the Amish are not buying these farms for economic reasons. It’s not economically rational to pay the kinds of prices they are for these farms. Instead, their motivation is the preservation of their way of life, and a recognition that their culture’s survival depends upon a connection to the soil.
"At the core of Amish culture is a commitment to their faith and to their families. And historically, they have been able to maintain those commitments by grounding themselves in a rural, agricultural lifestyle. Anything else would be an experiment that the Amish are not ready for yet."
A graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, Kanagy earned a doctorate in rural sociology from Penn State University. He has been recognized by both Elizabethtown and Wheaton colleges for excellence in teaching and scholarship. He was honored in 1997 as a Young Scholar in American Religion, receiving an award from the Pew Charitable Trust, and in 1998 as an exemplary teacher scholar through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. He is also pastor of Elizabethtown Mennonite Church.
Kanagy has published articles in sociological journals such as Social Science Quarterly, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Rural Sociology and Sociology of Religion." He is co-author of an introductory sociology text titled "The Riddles of Human Society."
At Elizabethtown College -- central Pennsylvania’s premier small, comprehensive college -- 1800 men and women enjoy personal attention, breadth of curriculum, experiential learning and a commitment to serving others. Elizabethtown has been ranked for 11 consecutive years by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top comprehensive colleges in the North.
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