Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Airmail) 2012 Postage Stamp

 

As part of the Scenic American Landscapes series, the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania stamp is designed to draw attention to its beautiful, iconic farmsteads set amid gently rolling hills. This stamp captures the beauty of the rural landscape as an Amish buggy travels along a country road, passing one of the county's iconic farms.

Known for its breathtaking rural scenery, agricultural bounty, and small towns with evocative names like Bird-in-Hand and Paradise, Lancaster County is perhaps most famous as part of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The Amish, with their horse-drawn buggies, one-room schoolhouses, and traditional lifestyle, give the county an Old World charm. Their pristine family farms, surrounded by neatly cultivated fields, offer visitors a glimpse of another century and a quieter way of life.

Settlers seeking land and religious freedom flocked to Lancaster County even before its official establishment in 1729. They found safe haven in this westernmost frontier of William Penn's "holy experiment," which represented the belief, put into action, that members of different religions could co-exist peacefully. Among the settlers were the Amish and Mennonites, Protestant sects from Germany and Switzerland, who have become synonymous with Lancaster County. Because of their strict adherence to Biblical scripture and their belief in a community-centered life, the Old Order Amish in particular created a separate and distinct culture that has endured, largely unchanged, for centuries. Known popularly as the Pennsylvania Dutch — likely a variation of the word Deutsch (meaning German) — the Amish helped to shape the county with their simple lifestyle and traditions, and, ironically, became the focus of intense attention from tourists.

The image captures the beauty of the rural landscape as an Amish buggy travels along a country road, passing one of the county's iconic farms. The stamp was designed by Ethel Kessler and features a photograph by James Amos.

"Lancaster County, Pennsylvania", is being issued as an international rate stamp and is part of the Scenic American Landscapes series. This is a First-Class Mail one-ounce rate for international mail to countries other than Mexico and Canada.