Lancaster County Amish - "Barn Raising" Still Practiced

If you've never seen "Witness" with Harrison Ford, then you may not know a Lancaster County, PA barn raising when you see one.  Well, just for you I took some photos of one last week while out in the East Lampeter Township area.

The sounds of many hammers fills the morning air - the cool dewy weather lends itself well to the earthy feel of the farm which the barn is going up on.  I walked to the treeline with my oldest son, Nathan, to watch the spectacle:

A barn raising is a community event, particularly with the old-order Amish.  The barn is the most expensive and difficult structure to build, and the first one a farmer needs.  To offset this, there is a long tradition of helping others by coming together to put up a barn, often in a single day once the foundation is in place.  The one you see happening here had the assistance of a large crane to place beams, but even that function was done by hand in years past. 

Today, it's a rare occasion to actually see one in progress, and I'm glad I had my camera along!