Amish America - Exploring Amish Culture and Communities

I’ll start by saying that I love this week’s home. Now, I’m not saying I’d love to live there (let’s just say it’s “very Amish”). But as far as visual appeal of an Amish property goes, this is one of my favorites we’ve seen. Why? One reason is clear without even looking too close at the details: its vibrant color. Reds, blues, purples, set off against warm browns…

Amish Life

The Things That Make You Stop & Look Twice At An Amish Auction (15 Photos)

ByHaley Straw September 10, 2026

9 Comments

Today we’re back with the follow-up to last week’s piece by Haley Straw, “An Amish Department Store Without Walls.” As Haley explains, you never quite know what might catch your eye at an Amish auction. By the time I’d been to the Jamesport (Missouri) Amish School Auction a few times, I had a better idea of what to expect—or at least I thought I did….

Feel Good

This Amish Store Burned To The Ground In April. Just 51 Days Later, It Was Back In Business

ByErik Wesner September 8, 2026

The Amish-owned Rustic Ridge Variety Store burned to the ground back in April in a community in Lewis County, Missouri. While it’s hardly a surprise when an Amish community quickly gets on the job of cleaning up and rebuilding, this one seemed ahead of even a typical schedule. Less than a week later came news that the new store had already been framed and was…

Buggy Accidents

“Sneezing Fit” Blamed For Crash That Kills 1 Amish Woman, Seriously Injures 4 Others

ByErik Wesner September 8, 2026

An everyday bodily function is being blamed for a crash which has claimed the life of a 37-year-old Amish woman in Monroe County, Wisconsin. Here’s what happened, via WMTV: MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – One person has died and five others were injured after a driver’s “sneezing fit” caused her to crash into an Amish buggy last week, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday. The…

Buggy Accidents

Rear-End Crash Flips Amish Buggy — Fire Chief Says Horse Breaking Loose Likely Saved Baby

ByErik Wesner September 7, 2026

An Amish family of seven suffered injuries, some of them serious, when a driver rear-ended their buggy Sunday night in Coal County, Oklahoma. The crash was dramatic – and the aftermath was as well. A trapped baby fortunately survived – but it very well could have ended up differently, according to the fire chief. Here’s more via the Ada News: Williams said it appeared a…

Mennonite & Anabaptist

After The Bible, This Is One Of The Most Important Books In Amish Homes. It’s Getting A New Translation

ByErik Wesner September 7, 2026

Martyrs Mirror, a massive tome telling the stories of 16th-century Anabaptist martyrs, along with earlier Christian ones, is one of the most important books in Amish homes. Now it’s getting a new translation – this time straight from the 1685 Dutch, replacing English that dates to 1886. Hat tip to Al in KY who brought this story in Anabaptist World to my attention. In it,…

The Amish & Health

Measles Reported Among Amish In 3 New York Counties, Says Public Health Director

ByErik Wesner September 4, 2026

7 Comments

In last week’s post on the measles situation, I noted how there has been a lot of coverage dancing around the idea that Amish communities are undergoing measles outbreaks — but with little-to-no direct confirmation that measles was present in Amish communities. This was not really the fault of the news outlets reporting on the matter. In a number of cases, local officials understandably declined…

The Amish & Health

Coroner: 6-Week-Old Amish Girl Died From Measles. First Confirmed US Measles Death Of 2026

ByErik Wesner September 4, 2026

6 Comments

Earlier today, Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni confirmed that a 6-week-old Amish girl died due to measles. As Anne Garber of LNP | LancasterOnline notes, this is the first confirmed measles death in the US this year, and the first in Pennsylvania since 1991. Diamantoni told LNP | LancasterOnline that the girl was born with a genetic condition called Amish lethal microcephaly. The microcephaly…

Amish Life

An Amish Department Store Without Walls (14 Photos)

ByHaley Straw September 3, 2026

Last week, Haley Straw took us to the most recent edition of the Jamesport, Missouri Amish School Auction. She follows that up with a look back at an earlier visit to the same auction – and some of the many and varied things you find at one of these events. “I always get what I want” is one of my personal mantras. Evidence of that…

Amish LIVING

8 Amish Parenting Habits That Raise Grounded, Hardworking Children

ByErik Wesner September 2, 2026

5 Comments

To generalize for a moment: Amish children tend to leave a positive impression. Visitors come away remarking how well-behaved they are, how respectful they are when around adults, even how they can seem older than they actually are. The explanation you often hear is strictness. There’s something to that. Amish parents use traditional forms of discipline. But that’s not the whole story. There are other…

Amish Homes

This New York Amish Home Has A Five-Figure Price Tag — And Not A Single Bathroom (21 Photos)

ByErik Wesner September 1, 2026

4 Comments

This Amish home in Conewango Valley, New York was listed in mid-August at $120,000. Two weeks later, the price has dropped into the five figures (current price revealed at the end – as is our custom on these home posts 🙂 ). If that sounds inexpensive, be aware we’re looking at one of the plainest of all Amish groups. That means very basic amenities –…

Amish Culture

New Order Amish Youth Sing “Wonderful Grace Of Jesus”

ByErik Wesner August 31, 2026

Here’s another song from the same 2023 New Order Amish youth singing that gave us “When All of God’s Singers Get Home”. This time it’s “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”. The video is by P. Thomas, who has an extensive collection of live recorded music on his channel, both from Amish and other Christian groups. Like in the previous video, the vantage point is from one…

Amish Communities

The Amish Now Live In Mexico: 5 Takeaways From The 2026 Amish Population Numbers

ByErik Wesner August 29, 2026

The new Amish population figures are just out from the Young Center, and as we always do, let’s have a look at what’s new in the data. I pulled out 5 noteworthy findings from the new info which we’ll take a look at one-by-one below. But first, just to set the table: the Young Center puts this data out once per year, relying on a…

The Amish & Health

Is Measles Spreading In Amish Communities? Nobody Will Officially Say, But Stories Suggest “Yes” (Updated)

ByErik Wesner August 28, 2026August 31, 2026

5 Comments

Stories about measles in places where the Amish live keep popping up on my news feed, at a seemingly increasing pace. They’re showing up in different regions of the country – the East coast, Northeast, Midwest. Some stories have sections suggesting or leaving readers to draw the conclusion that an outbreak may be happening in or around “Amish Country”, but nothing really directly saying “the Amish…

Amish Controversies

Lawyers Say Amish Will Leave New York If They Lose School Vaccine Mandate Case

ByErik Wesner August 27, 2026

6 Comments

Lawyers for the Amish plaintiffs in New York’s school vaccine mandate case say their clients will petition the Supreme Court next month – and that if they lose there, the families intend to leave the state. That comes from the New York Post, which reported from the Fort Plain and Canajoharie area this week. Both points answer questions left open when we covered the Second…

Amish Culture

Lovina Zook Describes Bed Courtship In One Of The Plainest Amish Groups

ByErik Wesner August 26, 2026

Last week we got to know more about Lovina Zook, a young Amish-raised woman who makes popular recipe videos. Since then, a reader brought to my attention a short video clip (at bottom) by CBS News, with Lovina describing dating practices in her community. The reader was understandably concerned about people getting the wrong idea on what “Amish dating” actually is, based on this clip….

Feel Good

Idaho’s Only Amish Community Lost Its Market To Fire. 6 Months Later It’s Back — And Bigger

ByErik Wesner August 24, 2026

Six months after a fire destroyed their country store, an Amish family in Lemhi County, Idaho has reopened it – despite the owner saying he was inclined, at first, to not rebuild at all. Baker Country Market is in the unincorporated community of Baker, about nine miles southeast of the larger town of Salmon, by which the community is sometimes known. Paul and Maria Miller…

Amish Beliefs

Study: Only 154 People Have Joined the Amish in Nearly a Century

ByErik Wesner August 22, 2026

9 Comments

It seems there’s no shortage of curiosity about joining the Amish – especially given the recent “Suddenly Amish” television program. We’ve also covered the topic fairly often over the years here. One thing has been consistently true: while joining the Amish fascinates a fair number of people, it’s simply not that common, for reasons we’ve gone into before. Those include cultural differences, misperceptions or wrong…

Amish Communities

A Visit To The Amish Of Prince Edward Island, Canada (16 Photos)

ByErik Wesner August 11, 2026

6 Comments

Judy Stavisky, author of In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women, shares her recent visit to an Amish community on Prince Edward Island, Canada, with us today. All photos in this post by Judy Stavisky. “Would you like to join us for a bowl of ice cream? We churned it ourselves.” A soft voice from behind a thin blue curtain invited us inside—a…

Amish Business

An Amish School Auction 7,500 Feet Up In Colorado (16 Photos)

ByErik Wesner August 6, 2026

So here’s something you don’t see every day – an Amish benefit auction held at over 7,500 feet, in country with vast views as far as the eye can see. Reader Alan LaFon checks in from an Amish part of America we don’t often hear too much from. These photos come from the annual La Jara Amish School Consignment Auction, held each July in Conejos…

Amish Culture

Dirty Buggy? Amish Youth Will Wash It For You — While You Eat Ham Sandwiches

ByErik Wesner August 2, 2026

Just like your car, Amish buggies – not to mention their horses – need the occasional wash too. That’s the idea behind an upcoming event in the Shipshewana, Indiana area, passed along to us by Jim Halverson. This is the ad for a benefit buggy wash to be held about two weeks from now, on Saturday August 15: BENEFIT BUGGY WASH to be on Saturday,…

Amish LIVING

7 Ways Amish Families Keep Grocery Bills Low — Even With 8 Kids

ByErik Wesner July 31, 2026

4 Comments

Grocery prices are on a lot of people’s minds lately, and for good reason. The USDA’s moderate-cost food plan has a family of four at around $1,385 a month as of this writing. Scale that up to a household of ten mouths to feed, and you’re well past $2,500. Why do I say ten? Well, that’s an average-sized Amish family – two parents and eight…

Amish Culture

The Amish “Black Box” Phone: The Device They Built to Keep Big Tech Out

ByErik Wesner July 28, 2026

Looking at its name alone, the Amish Black Box Phone has an air of secrecy or mystery to it. Is it some sort of clandestine Amish spy-ops device? A tool meant for conveying bad news? Of course, many of us will connect “black box” with the recording devices used to record communication in plane crashes, another morbid association. But it’s none of those things. Rather,…

Amish Communities

The Amish Rarely Settle In This Southern State — Now It’s Getting A Second Community

ByErik Wesner July 21, 2026

It appears the Amish are putting down roots in a state that they have rarely settled in the past — Mississippi. In fact, for the past three decades, the Magnolia State has had just one small Amish community. But a second is now arising in Prentiss County in northeast Mississippi, according to a new report. At least one family, and possibly more, has already moved…

Amish Culture

5 Things You Should Never Say To An Amish Person (Or Should You?)

ByErik Wesner July 17, 2026

15 Comments

So I couldn’t resist commenting on this one. You may have come across slideshow-style “listicle” posts on mass media sites like MSN or AOL. I’ve been seeing a lot of them lately about the Amish (sometimes they link to this website as a source, so no complaints there). Things like “10 surprising technologies the Amish use” or “The 15 largest Amish communities”. Often enough, the…

Amish Food

Bread Soup, Oyster Stew & More: Favorite Dishes From My Ohio Amish Community

ByErik Wesner July 15, 2026

10 Comments

Nora Kurtz is a member of a Geauga County, Ohio Amish church. Today she shares some favorite dishes from her childhood – and some she still loves today, including bread soup and more. Anyone who lives in or around a large Amish community is probably going to be at least somewhat familiar with “Amish food”. Fried chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed vegetables, pies and puddings…

Amish Communities

A Return To Virginia’s Oldest Amish Community — And The Woman Who Left Something Beautiful Behind (15 Photos)

ByErik Wesner June 2, 2026July 3, 2026