I have to say this headline today caught my eye, for obvious reasons: “TJ’s Liquor stays busy with new Amish store“. Doesn’t that kind of sound like a liquor outlet is running a new store…catering to the Amish? Reading the article, however, you learn that this business is actually adding an “Amish Country Store”. But […]

Continue Reading Minnesota Liquor Seller…Adds Amish Store?

When I put together these posts every week, I try to think of a catchy description to capture some essential aspect of the home in question. And “cramped” was the first word that came to mind here. Maybe “cozy” is the positive-connotation alternative I could have used, but no, “cramped” seems to fit. The home […]

Continue Reading Inside A Cramped Amish Home (11 Photos)

On a post last week, Maureen asked where to find clothesline wheels. C.J. added: I too, would be interested in knowing where a wheel could be purchased and if they come in varying sizes. Do any hardware stores carry them, and could they be ordered online? Reader “Along 340” shared two favorite resources in reply […]

Continue Reading Where To Find Amish Clothesline Wheels & More

We’re back with the winner of Grounded Upon God’s Word: The Life and Labors of Jakob Ammann, a new book by authors Andrew V. Ste. Marie and Mike Atnip about the life of the early Amish leader. If you missed the Q-and-A with Andrew, you can check that out here. The book winner is at […]

Continue Reading Grounded Upon God’s Word: The Life and Labors of Jakob Ammann – Book Winner & Excerpt

A tractor and a four-horse team were used to move a historic Amish schoolhouse Friday from a location outside Arthur, Illinois to its new home at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center. It took around two hours to move it about nine miles. Image: Heritage Iron Magazine The school had been purchased by a woman named […]

Continue Reading Amish Move 100-Year-Old Schoolhouse (Video)

We recently looked again at Amish women’s occupations in the post 5 Jobs Done By Amish Women. In that post, commenter “Along 340” shared a personal list of 12 further examples of Amish women’s occupations which I felt deserved a post of its own. Photo: Kelsey Hochstetler/Keim Lumber By the way, some of you may […]

Continue Reading 12 More Jobs Done By Amish Women

Today’s Amish home comes from a little Swiss Amish community up in the northeast corner of Indiana. The Hoosier State is known for its Swiss Amish population, as it’s home to the two largest, at Adams County (Berne) and Allen County (Grabill). This Swiss settlement at Hamilton (Steuben County) has been there for over half […]

Continue Reading Inside A Cheerful Swiss Amish Home (30 Photos)

Grounded Upon God’s Word: The Life and Labors of Jakob Ammann is a new book by co-authors Andrew V. Ste. Marie and Mike Atnip. Ammann was the early leader of the Amish, for whom the group is named. For many years, little was known about Ammann, though in recent decades fresh research has revealed more […]

Continue Reading Who Was Jakob Ammann? Q-and-A & Book Giveaway

I just came across a video of the Beeville, Texas Amish showing footage from around the community. The video is six years old. I am not sure how I missed it before. We’ve had a half dozen or so posts on this community over the years, including one by Kevin Williams with a video showing […]

Continue Reading Ride Through The Only Texas Amish Community (Video)

In the latest edition of the Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC) we find an article by Henry Troyer titled “Change and Continuity in Amish Wedding Dates in the Holmes County, Ohio, Settlement“. I found several interesting facts in Troyer’s piece I’d like to share with you, concerning Holmes County wedding customs. Let’s start with the […]

Continue Reading 3 Interesting Facts About Holmes County Amish Weddings

The Walker Valley Market in the Pearisburg, VA community is one of the nicest Amish food-and-more stores I’ve visited. I was here once before, about a year ago, but only shared quick photos of the front of the store and a couple of food items. A reader named Shawn also visited this place which featured […]

Continue Reading Inside The Walker Valley Market (24 Photos)

Up to 90% of Lancaster County Plain families have had at least one family member infected with COVID-19, according to a local health center administrator. From Lancaster Online: Late last spring a COVID-19 wave tore through the Plain community when they resumed church services, infecting an untold number of Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster County. […]

Continue Reading Have The Amish Reached Herd Immunity?

Will it be possible to attend a Lancaster County mud sale in 2021? Every year in early January I post a listing of the coming year’s mud sales. I have not done so yet this year due to the uncertainty (in 2020, many were cancelled due to COVID). Looking at the current schedule, things do […]

Continue Reading Lancaster County Mud Sales 2021 (The Sales Still Happening & Cancellations)

Molly asks a good question on the recent Lancaster farm stay post: Eric, would you tell us the differences between Lancaster county & Holmes county? We have visited Holmes county, but would like to know the differences. As the two largest and most-visited Amish communities, people often wonder which one of Holmes County and Lancaster […]

Continue Reading Which Community Should You Visit? 7 Differences Between Lancaster County & Holmes County

There is an interesting discussion on the Ag Talk forum about Amish pies. The original post is basically a complaint that pies made by the Amish in the poster’s area of central New York are not very good. An excerpt: I’ve tried 3 different Amish sources 2 on farms and one at a Amish store. Yesterday […]

Continue Reading Beware of Amish-Made Pies?

I came across something that got my attention while searching for Amish homes to share with you. Right now there are at least 7 Amish homes for sale in the community at Hillsboro, Kentucky (Fleming County). What’s going on here? It looks like a lot of people are moving out of the area for some […]

Continue Reading 7 Amish Homes For Sale In One Community (40 Photos)

A comment by Al in KY got me thinking about how many Amish settlements I’ve actually visited. I had tallied this up before, but it was years ago. So I thought it a good idea to put together a fresh list. I believe the very first settlement I went to was Lancaster County, but that […]

Continue Reading My Amish Settlement List (58 Communities)

On the heels of the “20 Unique Ways Amish Raise Their Kids” article, another click-magnet piece popped up on my news feed this morning. This one is called “15 Insane Rules All Amish Kids Must Follow.” I take “Insane” in this context to mean crazy, odd, or absurd (that is, according to the article writer/editor). […]

Continue Reading 15 “Insane” Rules All Amish Children Must Follow..?

Amish are well-known for living by guidelines and rules governing technology, dress, and other aspects of daily life. But Amish churches are not all the same. Some are more traditional, and others more progressive. Some do things one way, and others do things another way. So how do Amish know the dos and don’ts specific […]

Continue Reading 6 Examples of Amish Ordnung Rules

Donald Kraybill is the author of over a dozen books on the Amish, and currently serves as Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. I asked Don if he’d answer some questions for us today on the Amish and his newest book, called Simply Amish: An Essential […]

Continue Reading Donald Kraybill on Simply Amish (Q-and-A & Giveaway)

It’s the 65th Annual Pennsylvania Relief Sale, and 65 quilts will be sold online today (Saturday April 10) starting at 10 AM. This sale benefits Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Amish support and participate in MCC disaster relief efforts. Here are some of the quilts. These are not necessarily Amish-made (going by the names, most of […]

Continue Reading Pennsylvania Relief Sale: 65 Quilts To Be Auctioned Online @ 10 AM Today

This photo by Brad Wieland captures what appears to be a rollerblade race between school-age Amish boys. By the clothing and the presence of rollerblades (aka inline skates), we can be pretty sure that this is Lancaster County (no location was provided with the photo). The photo is very blurred, but we can make some […]

Continue Reading Slice of Amish Life: Speedy Rollers