Amish Furniture Shop: Noise complaints

Those Amish are too darn loud.

So say the neighbors.

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It seems the ‘peaceful people’ in one PA community are getting their share of noise complaints.

No public power means the Amish have to find other ways to juice their woodworking equipment.

The idyllic calm that many assume defines life in Amish America, is, in reality, often more like a deafening roar.

If you’ve ever been inside an Amish woodworker’s shop, or even around back while a housewife runs the diesel generator that powers her washing machine, you know the noise can be overwhelming.

One unhappy homeowner says the commotion starts around half past five in the morning.  Then, it’s “like having a lawn mower going around your home, continuously for the next 10 hours.”

Ouch.

No wonder it is expected to bring down local property values 20 to 30 percent.

And that’s not the only complaint about Amish businesses, as described in a local Newswatch 16 report (no longer online).

Will the Amish concede?   A meeting had been scheduled between the business owners, homeowners, and local authorities.

A compromise should be reached–perhaps by constructing some sort of muffling device?  Just don’t expect the Amish to switch over to public electric.

In any case, it’s just another obstacle to negotiate for the Amish, as yesterday’s farmers continue to be replaced by today’s entrepreneurs.

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    5 Comments

    1. sara

      I am ready to tear my hair out over the woodshop noise of my only neighbors, a very nice Amish couple who put a woodshop in the barn beside my house. I am calling a lawyer tomorrow–it is just too much to bear

    2. Amish America

      youch! That must not be fun. Curious–do you live near a larger Amish settlement or one more on the small side?

    3. Sean LaFianza

      My first few times on an amish farm i was surprised at how loud it could be at times with gas generators running refrigerators and washing machines and the like.

      Ive been reading recently about how quickly some plain farmers are going solar to lessen dependencies on oil… i’m sure another huge benefit is to bring back the traditionally quiet farm.

    4. Yes it can be really loud! Lancaster County in general is a lot louder than any other settlement I’ve been in. It is quite urbanized and does not even feel all that rural, especially not compared to Holmes or Lagrange Counties.

    5. Todd Robbins

      The Amish family I was close friends with in Sonora, Kentucky had a quiet farm, unless they were cutting up their firewood. In fact, I was never around a loud Amish farm in that area, although I’m sure some were, at times. Steel wheeled wagons are very loud on pavement, for sure.