Amish migration

In 1991, there were 215 Amish settlements in North America.  20 years later, the number was 427 (see this 20-year review at the Amish Studies site). The Amish population doubles every 2 decades (give or take).  But this doesn’t mean that existing communities just double in size. As they grow, Amish move.  Big communities lose members to daughter settlements. [...]

Continue reading Could Amish be headed to your neighborhood? 8 factors to consider

How big is the Amish population? As of 2011, the total Amish population is 261,150, according to the latest estimates by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. No new states made the list this year.  So the total Amish tally remains at 28 states (and Ontario).  I guess we’ll have to wait [...]

Continue reading How many Amish live in North America?

Thought this might be a nice out-of-season shot to share, on yet another snowy day in my neck of the woods (and maybe yours, too). Rick offers us a pic from Mercer County, Pennsylvania, near the hamlet of Jackson Center.   There are at present 3 Amish settlements in Mercer County, the oldest and largest settled [...]

Continue reading Mercer County, Pennsylvania Amish

David Luthy shares the history of Nathan Smiley, born in Ireland to a British mother in 1797. At age four, Nathan arrived in America with his mother, and for reasons unexplained was placed in a foster home in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.  That home happened to belong to an Amish family. On coming of age, Nathan chose [...]

Continue reading History of Amish names: A ‘Smiley’ Amishman by way of the British Isles

Behalt is a pictorial history of the Anabaptists from the time of European beginnings through their existence in America.  Not only is it educational, it has been dubbed “the most exciting cyclorama in America”. Having only visited one cyclorama in America (the other–of the Battle of Raclawice in Poland being non-American and of a decidedly non-pacifist [...]

Continue reading Behold Behalt!

New York state is home to a large number of Amish communities–around 30 settlements–totaling over 70 church districts. New York ranks as the state with the sixth largest Amish population and has attracted a large number of out-of-state ‘immigrant Amish’–in fact, more than any other state since 2002. Brock shares photos from an Amish settlement in Montgomery County, [...]

Continue reading Reader photos: New York Amish

A few shots from the Amish community at Sinking Valley near Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Sinking Valley was founded by Renno Amish from nearby Big Valley.  The settlement is comprised of around 30 families, forming a single church district.

Continue reading Amish community at Sinking Valley in Pennslvania

The latest issue of Family Life includes an article by David Luthy entitled Amish Settlements Across America: 2008. It’s a comprehensive listing of Amish settlements along with some commentary and analysis.  Last time Luthy did one of these was in 2003. Interesting facts: Some settlements are very old, yet due to various factors, are very small today. Hicksville [...]

Continue reading Amish Settlement Facts

An AP story has just hit the wire on population growth among the Amish.  This coincides with the release of additional information on trends in Amish growth and migration from here at the Young Center. The Amish studies site now lists trend data for the 1992 to 2008 period as well as the 2007 to [...]

Continue reading Amish growing like mushrooms after a rain shower

photo:  waynet.org Indiana is an interesting place when it comes to Amish diversity. In the Hoosier state, you will find communities of New Order, Swartzentruber, ‘Swiss’, and of course, ‘standard’ Old Order Amish. One relatively new influence in the state has been the presence of two settlements of Lancaster Amish, which both formed in the [...]

Continue reading The Amish of Parke and Wayne Counties, Indiana