New details have been released on a deadly September 13 buggy crash in St. Lawrence County, New York. The two people killed when a pickup truck struck the buggy outside Canton, New York were a young boy visiting from Michigan and his grandmother. The crash had many victims, and I wondered at the time if there weren’t a good number of children inside, given the…
Jim Halverson is back with another set of photos taking you inside a fun Amish event. These were taken at the recent Rentown Old Fashion Days in northern Indiana. The event brings together Amish families and others for a day of antique machinery demonstrations, food, vendors, and other old-fashioned activities. Rentown is a small Amish area between Nappanee and Bremen. The name is probably best…
There are currently two quite well-known Lovinas of an Amish background. Lovina Zook grew up Swartzentruber Amish before leaving the community several years ago. She has since become a social media star for her videos sharing Amish-style cooking recipes (and I’d say for her on-screen persona maybe just as much). We had a look at her online influencer career here several weeks ago. But well…
Some good news out of the Clarita, Oklahoma Amish community. All seven members of an Amish family – the Schrocks – injured in a September 6 buggy crash have been released from the hospital. Clarita Volunteer Fire Department Chief Frank Williams told the Ada News that the last hospitalized child returned home Thursday, September 17 – 11 days after the wreck. The buggy was carrying…
Two Amish communities in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota say the county’s building permit rules discriminate against their religious beliefs — and they’re threatening to sue if it isn’t fixed. The complaint centers on one thing: the county moved its building permit system online. Old Order Amish generally don’t use computers, for religious reasons. There is now a way for them to file using paper –…
A three-year-old boy died Tuesday after being run over by a forklift at the Lancaster County farm where he lived – one day after a 16-year-old was killed in a fall from a horse-drawn wagon in the same township (Leacock). From LNP | LancasterOnline: A 3-year-old boy died Tuesday morning when he was run over by a forklift at the Leacock Township farm where he…
Jim Halverson checks back in with some scenes from an Amish fish fry that took place last weekend in Topeka, Indiana. I’m calling it an “Amish” fish fry here – for reasons that should be apparent – but officially, it was the Topeka Fire Department Fish Fry & Bake Sale. This is a heavily-Amish area, and so it makes sense that most of those in…
Amish retreat leader Sam Shetler has again been denied bond — with the judge citing the potential danger to witnesses and alleged victims. The ruling means that despite his legal team’s efforts, the 43-year-old Amishman will remain behind bars for now. This is the latest development in a case we’ve been following since Shetler’s arrest in late March. If you’re new to the story, Shetler…
In today’s guest post, Fred Hendricks shares a closer look at Weaver Wagons, an Ohio Amish-owned wagon and carriage business. Ervin Weaver could not have envisioned the success of this venture when he built the first wagon in 1994 – simple, but quality flatbed to haul hay. Ervin and his family operated a medium sized dairy farm along with other livestock near Dalton, Ohio. The…
Adding another layer to the ongoing measles story, Amish parents in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania have spoken to local station CBS 21 about their families’ vaccination decisions. Unsurprisingly, they don’t all agree on how to approach the outbreak, and vaccination in general. Grace Miller knocked on doors and spoke with about 10 Amish residents in the heart of the community (Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse areas). About half…
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…
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….
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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 –…
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…
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….
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
Four of them are in Indiana. Two apiece in Pennsylvania and Ohio. And one each in Illinois and Missouri. The list of the top 10 largest Amish settlements doesn’t change much from year-to-year. These communities generally have similar steady growth. And relatively few people leaving. Still, I like to do an annual update on the largest communities, with the latest figures. Update 2026: The new…
Four Amish children were injured Thursday afternoon when a motor vehicle attempting to pass their buggy hit it as it turned. The driver then decided to keep driving, leaving the scene. However, he or she was later arrested. The crash occurred in the Town of Buffalo in Marquette County, Wisconsin. From the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office statement: At approximately 3:44 p.m. today, September 17, 2026,…