• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Amish 365
  • About
  • Amish Recipes
  • Amish Culture
  • Amish Marketplace
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Amish Recipes
  • Amish Culture
  • About
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Amish Recipes
    • Amish Culture
    • About
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » The Plain Columns » The Amish Editor

    Mystery Buggy of Middletown....

    Published: Mar 20, 2012 · Updated: Feb 2, 2021 by Kevin Williams | 8 Comments

    I've said before that my hometown - Middletown, Ohio - is a dying rust-belt wasteland. What used to be a prosperous city of steel mills and paper plants has become a shell of itself with a dead mall, empty office buildings and shuttered factories.  And there's nothing remotely Amish around here. The closest I come to my "plain fix" is when the occasional Old German Baptist Brethren (Dunker) wanders into town from the rural lands west of the city, but with our mall's pulse barely registering anymore even they rarely are seen.  So I'm left to venture to Adams County, Ohio and Wayne County, Indiana for my close dose of Amish.  But...wait...maybe there is something Amish in Middletown after all and in a most unlikely place....On an out-of-the-way road of industrial parks and mobile homes sits what looks to me to be an Amish buggy sitting behind a chain-link fence on the grounds of an office building.  What the heck is it doing there?    It appears, to my eye, to be a buggy belonging to a more conservative sect of the Amish because of the steel wheels and the fairly spartan motif.  On the other hand, there also appear to be headlights on the front, perhaps the newer LED battery-powered ones,.  Of course, maybe this isn't an Amish buggy at all,but some 19th century antique that the office building owners just thought was cool.  Any guesses?  In the meantime I'll try to reach out to the owners to find out the buggy's story!

     

     

    « Amish Rhubarb Bread
    Ready for Rhubarb? Homemade Rhubarb Juice »

    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Tammy Rutar

      March 20, 2012 at 10:58 am

      Perhaps someone went to an Amish auction and purchased the buggy for a lawn ornament. Maybe it belongs to an Amish that is practicing (rumspringa) running around. My last guess is an Amish family went to town to do business and their horse ran away, so they called a driver to take them home...lol. Who really knows unless you go to the nearest Amish settlement and ask.

      Reply
      • Kevin

        March 20, 2012 at 11:45 am

        Or better yet, go to the business-owner and ask:) But those were good guesses, we'll see who turns out to be right!

        Reply
    2. Eleanor

      March 20, 2012 at 11:08 am

      You got me interested! Will be looking for your update.

      Reply
    3. Wendy

      March 20, 2012 at 5:07 pm

      Hmmm. If it was bought merely for decoration, I would think it would be positioned out in front of the building. But of course, you saw it...

      Reply
    4. Lisa Combs

      March 22, 2012 at 1:37 pm

      since I too live in Middletown, I won't spoil your question....but I have often wondered myself why that buggy is there....maybe I'll get brave and go in and ask!!!

      Reply
    5. Jan Landwehr

      March 26, 2012 at 1:59 pm

      Kevin, it's quite possible that the owner uses that buggy in the Lebanon carriage parade that is held in early December. There is a club of carriage owners that put on parades etc. I don't know the name of it but my cousin belongs to it.

      Reply
    6. Christine

      March 26, 2012 at 3:56 pm

      What kind of business is it in front of. Maybe they want people to come in and ask why the buggy is there.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

    More about me →

    Latest Amish Recipes

    • Delicious Amish Ham Meatballs
      Delicious Amish Ham Meatballs
    • Why Do The Amish Worship At Home?
    • Finished Ham Loaf
      Amish Ham Loaf
    • What is Shunning? And Do the Amish Still Shun?
    dutchcrafters

    Download The "Almost Amish" Ebook

    Footer

    Footer

    About

    • About The Amish Editor
    • Download "Almost Amish" Ebook
    • Amish Communities
    • Amish Marketplace

    Contact

    • Work With Us
    • Contact

    *As a member of various affiliate programs I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2000 - 2020 Amish 365 | Powered by Touch The Road