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Median Home Price: $112,000 Population: 2,452 Factoid: Lawrence County's Underground Railroad Stop
Pennsylvania Dutch
When the single traffic light beside a sagging barn changes, the intersection is still empty. But then a quiet clip-clop of hooves heralds incoming traffic: an Amish buggy heading to Wilson's Lumber & Building.
New Wilmington is 10 miles from the sprawl of Prime Outlets in Grove City, but it feels like a hundred years. The borough, centered on the scenic campus of Westminster College, brings together "English" locals and the surrounding Amish farmers of Lawrence County. It's an unforced, friendly community that has both dignity and charm.
Amish buggyNearby Volant, a crafts shopping village four miles down Route 208, has a reputation as an Amish center. But it's New Wilmington that walks the walk (or drives the buggies). There are as many horses on its streets as cars: Local Amish craftsmen often work with English-owned construction firms.
"It's a small, rural town with an agricultural past. People come in for supplies and church," says Tim Cuff, assistant professor of history at Westminster College. He and his wife, Carolyn, professor of mathematics, also at Westminster, love both the town and gown sides of New Wilmington, where they've lived since 1989.
Westminster CollegeThe Cuffs live just a two-minute drive from campus in a home built before the town's 1797 founding. But many locals, he says, see the town as an affordable bedroom community not far from Pittsburgh, more than 50 miles south.
"The access to I-79 south and Route 60 to the west means that we're not as isolated as we used to be," Cuff notes. Still, the Wilmington Area School District is one of the state's most sprawling, drawing students from 111 square miles.
Tavern on the SquareDining at the Tavern offers a slice of history.
New Castle, six miles west, offers convenient shopping; and Shenango Valley Mall is 25 minutes by car. Local merchants offer basics such as sandwiches and coffee--but no liquor. That ordinance gives this college town (about 3,000 residents; 1,600 students) a decidedly peaceful vibe. So does Brittain Lake by the college's playing fields. The huge body of water, whose boundaries were modeled after the state of Alabama's, provides a recreational space open for canoeing and fishing.
Among the town's many attractive buildings lies a famous local landmark, the Tavern on the Square. Used as a stop on the Underground Railway, the site now houses a restaurant that offers sophisticated, candlelit dining. In the summer, tables migrate to the back patio under a century-old tree, where the hum of local traffic--horses and honeybees--sounds just right.