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,…
A Population Profile of the Greater Holmes County settlement of Northeast Ohio Out of 700-plus Amish settlements, there are four that can be considered super-sized. In previous editions of The Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC), profiles for three already were published. The first of these was by Lawrence Greksa about the Greater Geauga, Ohio settlement, published in volume 1, issue 2. This was followed…
Ben & Rose are back, this time covering a hymn beloved by many. “How Great Thou Art” went up on YouTube yesterday, their first new song since “Stroll Over Heaven” at the end of June. The hymn has an interesting history. It started life as a Swedish poem, “O Store Gud,” written by Carl Boberg in 1885, reportedly after he was caught out in a…
A very sad and awful story is now coming to an end of sorts, as Samuel Hochstetler has pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in the death of 28-year-old Amish woman Rosanna Kinsinger. Kinsinger was found dead in her Meigs County, Ohio home back in March 2025. Hochstetler, 18 at the time, was arrested and charged nearly two months later in the crimes. After a series…
We pretty regularly feature posts on the Amish in Missouri on this site. So it’s probably no surprise to many readers that it is the #7 state when it comes to total Amish population. In a new piece on Amish in the state, the Columbia Missourian draws attention to another noteworthy Missouri Amish statistic. Namely, that the Show Me State has added more communities than…
This Amish home listing in Frazeysburg, Ohio contains the description “some of the most beautiful farm ground you can imagine.” Hard to argue after seeing these lovely photos. The property is 25 acres with the Wakatomika Creek running right along its western edge (visible in the photo below). The presence of an icehouse building (we’ll see that farther down) suggests this is an Amish group…
Sixteen months after starting the process, Amish Kitchen columnist Lovina Eicher’s youngest son Kevin finally has his handicap-accessible buggy. This week, Lovina shares a closer look with readers of her column. Kevin, age 20, has muscular dystrophy. He gets around on a mobility scooter (see photo further down). But at about 6’4″ and 230 pounds, getting him in and out of a standard buggy has…
A proposed ordinance that would ban steel-wheel buggies in a Pennsylvania township is on hold after dozens of residents packed a supervisors’ meeting Tuesday night to speak against it. Despite the planned vote, Bedford Township supervisors (Bedford County) did not take one in the end. They now say they plan to meet with the local Amish community – which they apparently never did (more on…
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…
Earlier this month, Sugarcreek Budget Publisher Milo Miller brought us a look at the latest edition of Horse Progress Days. He’s back with a look at another popular Amish event, this time Family Farm Field Days, held in Apple Creek, Ohio. It’s a gathering built on a simple idea: that farming can still be a viable living for a family, whether they’re working hundreds of…
Special Creations, an Amish-run center in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, plays a special role in the community – providing work opportunities for community members with physical and mental disabilities. Gwen Albers of New Castle News shares more on what they do: At Special Creations at 819 state Route 18 in Wilmington Township, south of the Dairy Farmers of America cheese plant, the 15 Amish clients do…
A hit-and-run driver is being sought in Jackson County, Wisconsin, after a pickup truck struck an Amish buggy on the evening of Wednesday, July 8th, injuring both the man riding in it and his horse. According to WEAU: JACKSON COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU) — Jackson County Crime Stoppers are asking the public to help identify the driver of a blakc pickup truck towing a white trailer…
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…
The matter at hand is a major road overpass project in Seymour, Missouri – meant to help improve safety in the state’s largest Amish settlement. It’s intended to go up in a part of the community where they are “genuinely scared” to drive their buggies, according to the former mayor. We first came across this story back in January, when we learned the Amish were…
A proposed ordinance in Bedford County, Pennsylvania would force local Amish to adapt their buggies to be more “road-friendly”, at least from the perspective of some residents. At the same time, others are concerned it could “disproportionately impact” the Amish community. From the report at WJAC: BEDFORD COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — A proposed ordinance in Bedford Township is drawing scrutiny ahead of a vote scheduled…
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…
Missouri is home to America’s seventh-largest Amish population. Over 18,000 Amish live in more than 60 settlements across the state. These ten communities are the largest in Missouri, based on the most current Amish population estimates. Population numbers via Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (source link at bottom). 1. Seymour Seymour (Webster County) Community founded: 1968 Total Amish population: 4,325…
A newly-released book collects 123 fraktur pieces and needlework family records from Amish families in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, spanning the 1800s. It’s the result of nearly three decades of collecting by the late Jack Parmer, with genealogical research and text by Elam Stoltzfus — who joins us today to share more on it. Here’s how publisher Masthof Press describes the book: Amish Family Records of…
Jim Halverson is back with another look around the Cass City, Michigan Amish community. This photo set takes in a local Amish-attended garage sale, marked with balloons out front – along with a few other sights from around the settlement. We’ve previously seen how garage sales are popular with the Amish in northern Indiana. This one was being run out of a greenhouse: secondhand dresses…
That’s according to the latest Top 10 list just released by USA Today, which pegs several Amish Country/PA Dutch-style buffets as the best in the country. The top three, in fact, are all in that category. In order, they are: Shady Maple Smorgasbord (Lancaster County, Pennsylvania) Der Dutchman (Sarasota, Florida) Miller’s Smorgasbord (Lancaster County, Pennsylvania) And not only that, but a fourth Amish Country buffet…
Reader Shawn has been visiting the Amish community at Pearisburg, Virginia for over a decade now. The first visit of Shawn’s we saw here was back in 2014, followed by a return in 2016 to check on the newly opened Walker Valley Market. I’ve made a couple of visits myself – one on a rainy February day in 2020, and another in December 2020 when…