My family has roots in Northeastern rural PA going back three generations. Many of my Irish relatives (on my Dad's side) settled in Wayne county in the late 1800's. Some of the relatives lived there year round and others were summer citizens who later retired there. Scranton is the closest "big" city.
Wayne County is largely a rural farming communtity...although wealthier city people are slowly moving there now. I sometimes feel like I'm in a time warp when I visit there as it still retains much of the feeling of the fifties: Little churches, granges, neighbors helping neighbors, and a sort of taciturn self sufficiency, particularly when the long hard winter sets in.
Many of the people there used to be Democrats, but were more recently converted to Republicanism by the wedge issues of Rovian fame: sex and morality, fear and hate.
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