Iowa has been home to Amish settlements for many years. In the 1960s, for instance, Buchanan County was site of many skirmishes between the Amish church and local government over compulsory education issues. Kalona, in Washington County, has long been Iowa's largest settlement and a favorite destination for visitors. With vast swaths of rural relatively inexpensive farmland the state is appealing to the Amish. It's always fun to read about new settlements and the Cedar Rapids Gazette showcased one of them over the weekend. Apparently the Amish have begun settling around Delhi, about an hour west of Dubuque and about 45 minutes northeast of Cedar Rapids. CAPTION: A farmer plows the fields near the new settlement of Delhi, Iowa. Photo from the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The article does a good job of describing what is a fairly common reason for a new settlement: philosophical and/or religious differences among Amish. There are several aspects of the piece that I found interesting, from names to religious reason for the split. (Helmuth is a familiar name, but it's not terribly common and Christner is not an Amish surname that I've run into much at all..the spelling of Borntreger is also not the main variant of either Bontrager or Borntrager...and Lori is an unusual first name among the Amish). The photographs included with this article are also interesting, so be sure to click on them. I think the subtext you can take away from this article is that the Delhi settlement us a little more progressive and practical than the purely agrarian one they left behind. Interesting reading! Check it out here.
Marge Nistler
Kevin that was a well written column, thank you
Marge Nistler
Neglected to say thanks for passing it on to the readers
lougender
I guess this remark might be taken as a little bit snide, but .... I was amused by the reference to the desirability of the woodlots in the area of this settlement -- I didn't think there were more than a dozen trees in the whole state of Iowa! ;o)
Denise
I enjoy a good chuckle, too, lougender. I think you got Iowa confused with Nebraska. : ) I live about an hour from Delhi, Iowa and there are plenty of trees, especially along the river and creeks. Come to Iowa in October and see some beautiful leaves!
Janice
lougender have you even been to Iowa? Yes, your remark was snide.
🙂
While Iowa doesn't have as many trees as states to the east it is not all flat and treeless like many believe. Yes, most of the trees in the central to western part of the state are found along rivers, but the eastern part of the state does have many wooded areas.
Iowa does have some of the most desirable farm ground in the country. It is the number one producer of corn, and either first of second in producing the most soybeans. If there were trees covering the whole state then who would put food on your table? 🙂