Amish Culture

The Ortman Chiropractic Clinic can be found in the small town of Canistota in southeastern South Dakota. As described in this piece in Mennonite World Review (“For Amish, long trip to chiropractor can be fun”), the clinic is noteworthy for the many Amish and other Anabaptist people it draws: The Ortman Clinic, which celebrated its centennial in 2015, has […]

Continue Reading Some Amish Travel 1000+ Miles For Chiropractor Visit

That’s the question Kelsey Osgood asks in a longform article for the Atlas Obscura website. Long or medium-term readers of this site know that joining the Amish has been a frequently-covered topic here, including posts on Amish converts in Maryland and Maine, or on joining the Amish later in life. There have also been numerous reports from Anne, […]

Continue Reading Is It Really Possible To Become Amish?

A few weeks ago, a fire broke out in a home in the Harmony Amish settlement, the largest in Minnesota. A bishop and his 18-year-old-son lost their lives. Since that time, both the local Amish community, as well as English neighbors (for anyone new, “English” is the term most, but not all, Amish use to refer […]

Continue Reading English Aid Amish After Minnesota House Fire

There’s a nice story making the rounds about a man named Matthew Secich who recently joined the Amish community at Unity, Maine. If the name of that community rings a bell, you may have seen it discussed here before. Here is one reader’s account of a visit to the settlement, and a look at what makes the […]

Continue Reading An Unusual Amish Convert Story In Unity, Maine

As we close the books on the last day of 2015, it’s always nice to take a look back at the previous 365. Every year has its ups and downs. I hope yours was overall a good one, and that 2016 is only better. Here on the blog, I’ve collected some favorite posts from the previous year. In […]

Continue Reading Favorite Posts Of 2015

Do young Amish men drive motor vehicles? For most non-Amish adolescents, acquiring a license at age 16 or thereabouts–usually followed by a beater of a car–is an assumed rite of passage. For Amish youth–many of whom enjoy freedoms similar to that of non-Amish during their “running around” years–the choice is not so obvious. While it’s safe […]

Continue Reading Jim Cates: Aaron and The 1964 Lincoln Convertible

Most Amish speak a dialect known as Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch as their primary language. It’s generally not used as a written tongue, though that doesn’t mean it’s not written, in one form or another, from time to time. And so today we have a list of terms for you to guess (or if you […]

Continue Reading Do You Know These 10 PA Dutch Carpentry Words?

Have you ever tried to “live like the Amish?” There have been quite a few books and articles written on the subject. It’s easy to see why. In a hectic, disjointed world, many of us crave things we see in Amish society. Things like strong community, life oriented around nature, and less dependence on technology, to name a few. […]

Continue Reading 23 Ways to “Live Amish”

Earlier this year we had a look inside an Ohio Amish home, photos of which had been posted to a realtor’s website. Though it’s not especially common, Amish homes are sometimes listed online, to reach potential buyers beyond the local Amish community. You can currently view another Amish-owned home on the market in the Clymer, New […]

Continue Reading Look Inside a New York Amish Farmhouse (9 Photos)

Here’s the full list of our “5 Points” posts for the last three months, in case you missed any: 5 Jobs Done By Amish Women 5 Important Events In Amish History 5 Things Amish Children Learn In School (Not Found In Any Textbook) 5 New States Where Amish May Settle 5 Things Decorating The Walls Of […]

Continue Reading “5 Points” Posts Wrap-Up: July-September