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!
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