The 25 Amish Communities At Least 100 Years Old

There are well over 600 Amish settlements across North America, with new settlements being started at a rate of about one every 10 days. You may have even seen Amish start a new community near you recently – or you might sometime soon.

At the same time, many Amish settlements have failed over the years. There are a number of reasons for this. A location might not prove as attractive as first thought, proving harder to make a living than expected. An area may have become inhospitable for a horse-and-buggy people. A community may fail to attract enough families or establish a church ministry. Or other reasons.

So I thought it would be worth looking at those settlements which have managed to survive a long time – taking note of those at least 100 years old.

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2023 Amish Population: Five Years & 50,000 More Amish

There are 25 Amish communities that have crossed the century mark. You might assume that at such an age, most would be of good size. But you might be surprised to see how many are on the small side – some just one or two churches in size.

So here are the Amish communities which are at least 100 years old as of this year, with year of founding and size (in church districts). I’ve listed them from oldest to youngest. Information is according to Amish Population in the United States by State and County, 2020 (compiled by Edsel Burdge, Jr., Joseph F. Donnermeyer, and David Luthy).

2024 UPDATE: Since this list was compiled in 2021, two other Amish communities are reaching the century mark this year – the community at Atlantic in Crawford County, PA, and the one at Enon Valley, PA, both founded in 1924

A few points to note:

• 11 states and 1 Canadian province are represented here
• Indiana has the most 100-plus-year-old settlements, with six
• Pennsylvania is the only state with communities founded in the 1700s (three)
• Nearly one-third of these communities (eight) were founded over a single decade (more or less) – the years 1840-1850
• 10 of these communities are smaller than 10 church districts in size as of 2021, including seven with three districts or less

The 25 Amish Settlements 100+ Years Old

1. Lancaster County, PA (c. 1760) – 240 church districts

2. Somerset County, PA (1767) – 6

3. Mifflin County, PA (1791) – 32

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10 “Exceptions” To Amish Rules

4. Holmes County, OH (1809) – 286

5. Milverton, Ontario (1824) – 11

6. Adams County, IN (1840) – 63

7. Elkhart-LaGrange County, IN (1841) – 194

8. Nappanee, IN (1842) – 48

9. Allen County, IN (1844) – 24

10. Kalona, IA (1846) – 11

11. New Wilmington, PA (1847) – 21

12. Kokomo, IN (1848) – 2

13. Oakland, MD (1850) – 1

14. Arthur, IL (1864) – 30

15. Daviess County, IN (1868) – 33

16. Haven/Yoder, KS (1883) – 3

17. Hutchinson, KS (1883) – 2

18. Geauga County, OH (1886) – 137

19. Garnett, KS (1903) – 3

20. Centreville, MI (1910) – 14

21. Chouteau, OK (1910) – 5

22. Buchanan County, IA (1914) – 9

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The Atypical Amish Community at Unity, Maine

23. Hicksville, OH (1914) – 1

24. Dover, DE (1915) – 11

25. Medford, WI (1920) – 3