The Post Bulletin has a story on a man named Eddie Swartzentruber, who has been providing the perspective of someone who left a strict Swartzentruber Amish community. He’s using social media to share his former life and answer questions about the Amish on the TikTok platform. I find the article of interest in that it […]

Continue Reading Swartzentruber Amish-Raised Man Shares The Bad Sides Of His Amish Life

The Good ‘N Plenty restaurant was one of the best-known Lancaster County eateries, serving PA Dutch style meals for over 50 years, until the pandemic-related downturn put them out of business. Now, an Amish group has organized to purchase the property and make it into a health clinic catering to the area’s Plain community. Via […]

Continue Reading Amish Buy Lancaster County Restaurant – Will Become Plain Health Clinic

This is the second part of the Q&A I did with my friend Ben in Lancaster County in June (here’s the first part, on Amish & auctions). In this one, Ben describes how he buys buggy horses for his family – what characteristics he looks for in a horse, where he buys them, and price. […]

Continue Reading Ben Explains: How I Choose A Horse (Video)

This title is meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek. What I’m referring to though, is an interesting development brought to my attention by reader Al in KY. I’ve noted here in the past how the Elkhart-LaGrange and nearby Nappanee Amish settlements (first and third largest in Indiana) have essentially “grown together” in that their areas […]

Continue Reading An “Amish Megalopolis”?

From Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly: AUBURN — As the Amish community in southern DeKalb County continues to grow, the DeKalb County Commissioners are getting the jump on imposing a license fee for horse-drawn vehicles and horse-drawn trailers. The commissioners approved an ordinance on first reading Aug. 8 after a couple of months of discussion. […]

Continue Reading Buggies In Another Indiana County Will Need Licenses

This Amish home is in the Crab Orchard, Kentucky community. One with more progressive notes but very cozy inside. Let’s have a look. Living room. Rustic cabin feel. That’s a serious-looking safe. Another thing I notice here is the hickory rocker. It’s something you’ll see in both plain and more materially-progressive homes. The plainer homes […]

Continue Reading Inside a Cozy Country Amish “Getaway” Home (24 Photos)

I put together a video on my five favorite Amish communities to visit. In total I’ve been to around 70 Amish communities, many of them multiple times. These are my favorites to return to. I won’t give away the communities here, but I can say that one is in Ohio, two are in Pennsylvania, one […]

Continue Reading My 5 Favorite Amish Communities To Visit

An update today brought sad news following the tractor rollover accident in York County, PA last Friday. A fourth child, a four-year-old brother of another boy who had died in the accident, has passed away. From the York Daily Record: Jeffrey Ryan Fisher, of Lancaster County, died Tuesday from multiple traumatic injuries, spokesman Brett Hambright […]

Continue Reading Fourth Child Passes Away Following Tractor Accident; Three Children Remain Hospitalized

Tragic happening in York County, PA (the area across the Susquehanna which is considered part of the Lancaster County settlement). The York Daily Record gives an account of the accident, which happened Friday morning, and the community’s response thus far: Friday morning, Amos Stoltzfus dropped off some of his wife’s fresh-cut flowers at the Country […]

Continue Reading Amish Mother, 3 Children Lose Lives in Tractor Rollover

The latest Amish population statistics have been released by the Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. After looking over the numbers I can share that – no surprise here – the Amish population is larger this year than the last. The new estimated tally is 373,620, an increase of a bit […]

Continue Reading Amish Population 2022: Amish Call New Mexico Home