`Plain People' Face A New Threat -- Can Amish Lifestyle Successfully Mix With Big Tourism?

LANCASTER, Pa. - In the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch country, the 18th-century lifestyle of the Amish is on a collision course with 20th-century America.

And as outsiders rush to a rustic region famed for the ``Plain People's'' strict adherence to horse-and-buggy technology, some here are wondering whether the Amish will be squeezed out.

Some Amish have signaled their displeasure at the tide of development, which has nearly doubled Lancaster County's population since 1950. But many observers say that as more farms are gobbled up, the Amish will simply depart without objection from the land they have held for 250 years.

``I think it's a slow death for the Amish people in the long run,'' said Dr. John Hostetler, an anthropologist who was reared as one of the Amish.

Said Fred Daum, a Lancaster real-estate agent active in efforts to preserve the Amish heritage: ``We're not talking the Snail Darter down in Tennessee. We're talking about the preservation of an entire culture.''

Leaving their farms would be no simple corporate relocation for the Amish, a Christian sect that shuns modern conveniences such as electricity and embraces a simple, pastoral lifestyle. They would be leaving not only some of the nation's richest farmland, but also their deep attachments to this corner of southeastern Pennsylvania, site of their earliest settlements in America.

The relocations would have to take place in groups of 15 to 20 families, large enough to reproduce within a migrating group. They also would need the leadership necessary to establish a new church district in their new home - perhaps in another Amish community in the Midwest, perhaps somewhere else.

``It's nothing for sure yet, but I'm doing the farming here right now,'' said one 19-year-old Amish farmer. He is cautiously optimistic that he can retain the Lancaster County farm held by his family for four generations.

But, he allowed, ``Some people are going. A couple went down to Kentucky.''

Although the Amish lifestyle may be under pressure in Lancaster County, the 16,000 Amish here shy away from confrontation. Those who consent to interviews - and many do not - refrain from directly criticizing the growth that is reshaping their homeland.

During the past 20 years, an average of about 2,500 acres of Lancaster County farmland have been developed each year. Civic leaders say they want to protect the agricultural lands and people on them, but they also stress the need for maintaining the county's economy in a highly competitive environment.

``Obviously we'd be slitting our throats if we got rid of agriculture and tourism,'' said Sally Halbleib, a Lancaster Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman.

Others, however, suggest that the county has paid too much attention to development and not enough to the quality of life.

The situation in Lancaster County is complex and laden with ironies. The Amish depend on the very outsiders who are now crowding their existence to buy their crops and handicrafts. It is the farmers' simple lifestyle that has given their land the charm that attracts home buyers and tourists. And, ultimately, the pacifist Amish may depend on outsiders to defend their turf.

Persecuted in Switzerland and then Germany for practicing adult baptism, the Amish came to Pennsylvania at the invitation of William Penn. Their German roots gave rise to the nickname Pennsylvania Dutch. And, though the largest concentrations of the nation's 80,000 Amish are now in Indiana and Ohio, Pennsylvania remains special because it is their American homeland.

Their lives are much like those of the early pioneers.

They speak English with a thick accent of the German dialect they still use among themselves. Their homes are not connected to any utilities.

They still use hooks and eyes on many garments. Buttons are banned on some clothes because they are decorative and, some Amish say, too militaristic. Their simple dress spawned the term Plain People, which actually embraces two other less-strict sects as well, the Mennonites and the Dunkers.

For all their separateness, the Amish are friendly and willing to accommodate the tourists who flock to Lancaster County. But they're also overwhelmed.

Hostetler, who is considered an authority on the Plain People, said internal and external pressures on the Amish gradually have been growing. The large Amish families with six to eight children, for example, are driving up land prices as each generation seeks more land.

And as the Amish have continued to avoid modern technology in the 20th century, they have drawn increasing attention to themselves from outsiders, whom they call ``English.''

``Tourists now realize that the road to progress does not look that interesting any more. They like to go back centuries ago and see how they used to live,'' said Hostetler, director for the Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pa.

The crush of tourists limits when the Amish can shop, increases the frequency of car-buggy crashes and even prevents the Amish from working fields near roads on some days.

``Too many people stop their cars and run in the fields,'' Hostetler said. ``They have to work the fields that are not visible from the road on certain days. It's just curiosity.''

Tourism is also big business: The Lancaster Planning Commission estimates that tourism brings $413 million to the county each year, compared with $686 million in agricultural revenues.

One of the few hints of Amish resistance to the march of progress has come in the local debate regarding a highway expansion to improve access to Philadelphia, about 60 miles to the east.

Two years ago, local experts on the Amish were shocked when about 1,200 Amish attended a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation review of plans for state Route 23. It was an extremely bold move by the apolitical Amish, who normally do not object or appear in public forums for any reason.

Critics say the road expansion will only accelerate the rush of tourists and home buyers in search of quaint farm vistas and affordable suburban housing.

``This is a good time to talk to the Amish about it because at this point they give you their opinion,'' said John Lapp, a Plain Person who has left the Old Order and adopted a few modern conveniences into his Amish lifestyle.

``But,'' Lapp added, ``once it comes to the place to use force, they will move out.''

The highway expansion has been on hold since the 1970s but is being revived. A study on the road's effect on the Amish is to be completed next year.

Backing the road expansion are the county's business interests, which contend that the highway is essential to maintain the area's economy.

Although the Amish did not speak against the highway at the public meeting two years ago, their very appearance signaled the beginning of a grass-roots, slow-growth movement that has spread through the non-Amish community.

Other non-Amish groups are trying to preserve Lancaster County's farmland through a land trust, which allows farmers to protect their land against future development.

Even in the face of a population boom and growing tourism, some activists see the preservation efforts as indicative of an evolving sensitivity toward the region's religious minorities.

Lapp, who opposes the highway expansion, agreed. When the state started work on the highway, he said, its construction was a given. ``They didn't ask any opinion,'' he said. ``It's a little different now, they're going more by public opinion. I think this is the time for us Plain People to let ourselves be heard.''

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THE AMISH: WHERE THEY LIVE, HOW THEY LIVE

The Amish people shun modern conveniences in favor of traditional values. Here's where major Amish communities exist. (MAP NOT AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC VERSION.)

-- Origin: Named for Jacob Amann, who led them in breaking away from the Swiss Mennonites in the 1690s because of disagreements over church discipline.

-- Beliefs: Their beliefs stem from literal interpretations of the Bible. Their culture stresses farming and personal simplicity as a way of life. Members are forbidden to go to war, swear oaths or hold public office. The Amish believe in separation from the world.

-- Language: The Amish speak an old German dialect among themselves, use High German in their sermons and are fluent in English.

Sources: National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom, The World Book Encyclopedia.