Kishacoquillas Valley

The Kishacoquillas Valley, known locally as both Kish Valley and Big Valley, is an enclosed anticlinal valley in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians of Central Pennsylvania, lying between Stone Mountain ridge to the north and Jacks Mountain ridge to the south. The valley is located in Mifflin County and Huntingdon County. Many Amish and Mennonite people also live in the valley. Kishacoquillas Valley is home to the Nebraska Amish, one of the most conservative Amish groups. The valley drains via the Kishacoquillas Creek through the Mann Narrows water gap in Jacks Mountain to the Juniata River. U.S. Route 322 follows the creek though the gap, and is the main travel route across the valley, running from Harrisburg to State College. The Mifflin County Airport also lies in the valley.

Kishacoquillas Valley has many similarities to the Lancaster region. Like Lancaster, many Amish people reside in the valley. Accents identical to those heard in the Lancaster region is also frequently heard in the valley.

Principal towns

*Belleville
*Milroy
*Reedsville
*Barrville
*Allensville
*Airydale

History

John Armstrong named the Valley in 1759 after a friendly Shawnee chief. His Indian name translates to "The snakes are already in their dens." [http://kishvalley.com/]

Joseph Yoder portrays the late nineteenth-century Valley in his semi-autobiographical "Rosanna of the Amish" (1940).

External links

* [http://kishvalley.com/ Kishacoquillas Valley Historical Society]
* [http://www.kvrr.net/main.php Kishacoquillas Valley R.R.] historical site