30 Most Recent Comments
Dolores C July 7, 2025 at 7:04 pm on Five-Year-Old Amish Boy Killed While Riding ScooterMy thoughts and prayers go out to the Amish family missing their little one. I cannot understand why folks cannot be more aware of their surroundings when driving! This could have been anyone's child - Amish or English!
Sonya Nash July 7, 2025 at 6:22 pm on Northern Indiana: 10 Amish Country Restaurants Not To MissThank you for this excellent article. The Carriage House is in LaGrange County and since we are the official Shipshewana/LaGrange County Visitors Center and located right in the heart f Indiana Amish Country, not 30 miles away. We would like to respectfully request their website link be directed instead of here: Website: visitelkhartcounty.com/listing/the-carriage-house/226/ To here: https://visitshipshewana.org/listings/the-carriage-house/ We are also happy to help anyone coming in the region with free coupon books, travel guides, maps, trip planning suggestions and free audio tours. Thank you so much for your article. Well done
Kathy H. July 7, 2025 at 5:27 pm on Another Driver Who Shouldn’t Be Driving Hits Amish Children – On Same Minnesota RoadSpeed bumps can help slow down traffic. We just installed some in my HOA, where the speed limit is only 15 MPH but (mostly non-residents) still go too fast! (Non-residents drive through here, although it's posted as private property.) The article says that the road is new, so that means there are no pot holes or anything to slow down drivers. Speed bumps do work. They're annoying, but they do slow down the traffic.
Kim Warner July 7, 2025 at 1:36 pm on Amish Acres Will Be Sold – Again. What Happened with The Barns at Nappanee?SAD is all I can say
Linda Casper July 7, 2025 at 12:02 pm on Amish Acres Will Be Sold – Again. What Happened with The Barns at Nappanee?I am so sad if that place goes away. I worked there as a tour guide, and my uncle worked there making brooms. I'm glad I have 2 of his brooms. He spoke Pennsylvania Dutch so he would talk to foreign visitors from Germany and other places and they could to a certain point talk with each other. I loved being a tour guide, it took me back to my families farm. I hope someone buys it to make it another wonderful place like it use to be. It was a wonderful place of tours, buggy rides, shops and wonderful Amish food.
Dan Holsinger July 6, 2025 at 5:33 am on Five-Year-Old Amish Boy Killed While Riding ScooterIt's off topic, but I just saw something in a video about the Amish, which really surprised me: an Amish woman riding on a horse to an Amish gathering, see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEj5oZM4WGE at minute 52:03. I thought Amish are riding horses quite rarely, and if so, it's mostly done by young men around their farms and never done by women. How unusual is it that an Amish women is riding on a horse to an Amish gathering?
DL July 5, 2025 at 9:38 pm on Amish in Michigan: 2024 Guide (50+ Communities)How do I contact the bishop for the Marlette,MI area. ?
Brenda Jolly July 5, 2025 at 10:05 am on Amish Country Music Couple Release New Song Clip: “The Robin & The Eggs”Love the little folk song about the Robin crying because someone has stolen 3 little blue eggs from her nest. A cute little song very appropriate for a mother to sing to her child (as Conrad Fisher's Mother did). My Sister, Juanita Elliott has Facebook (I don't) so I shared this with her as she loves birds & "the Amish."
Jim July 5, 2025 at 5:00 am on Do the Amish Celebrate Independence Day (July 4th)?I find them to be welcome group of people. Very nice to be around. Beautiful women. At their shops, they make great sandwiches.
Tom Gingerich July 4, 2025 at 9:25 pm on The Year’s Biggest Amish Horse Festival is Happening This Weekend (31st Edition)I’ve enjoyed being in Amish country
Merrillyn Watts July 4, 2025 at 5:27 pm on 5 Lesser-Known (But Large-ish) Amish CommunitiesNo one ever mentions St Mary’S county Maryland. We have a good deal of Amish and Mennonite here. They are great people
Heather Haynes-O'Brien July 4, 2025 at 4:59 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportTo be fair… it that anyone reading this needs the reminder….a little preaching to the choir I guess.
Heather Haynes-O'Brien July 4, 2025 at 4:58 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportThank you for sharing and great insights! A very good reminder that this is a living, breathing, growing, evolving community. That gets lost in the main stream perspective so often. Fascinating math and comparison to the other rates. Thanks all.
David July 4, 2025 at 1:19 pm on Amish Business DirectoryWe have a large old growth Oak tree that has died and we are looking for someone to cut it down for all the wood and the log. We are located in Redfield Iowa. Please let us know if you are interested.
Guy in Ohio July 4, 2025 at 1:10 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportIf you find out any information on either of these please pass it along.
Erik Wesner July 4, 2025 at 11:54 am on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportThank you Callum, and I appreciate you doing the math to look a little deeper 🙂 The one thing I'll note too is that these are estimates and the year-by-year differences might not perfectly reflect the actual rate. I think you have well illustrated though the long term rate when you average it out. I would guess it to be high, but I wasn't aware that Niger had Amish-like growth rates. Wow.
Tony Romano July 4, 2025 at 11:46 am on Amish Business DirectoryI need a board on board wooden fence painted. I’m in Euclid, Ohio
Jon July 4, 2025 at 9:34 am on The Plain Communities Business ExchangeAn amish friend gave me a back issue of p.c.b.e. and I liked it enough to want me own subscription.
Al in Ky July 4, 2025 at 8:57 am on The Year’s Biggest Amish Horse Festival is Happening This Weekend (31st Edition)According to the official Horse Progress Days Preview Book for this year, Horse Progress Days next year will be July 3 and 4, 2026 in Arthur, Illinois. I have attended Horse Progress Days four times and thoroughly enjoyed it each time. I wish I could attend every year. For anyone interested in attending, it may be a good idea beforehand to get an Official Preview Book from The Budget newspaper in Sugar Creek, Ohio. This year's Preview Book is 95 pages long and gave many details about the two days of programs/demonstrations/activities. It also described an all-day bus tour of local Amish farms and businesses which is usually held each year in the local host community the day before the opening of Horse Progress Days.
Phrank July 3, 2025 at 3:04 pm on The Year’s Biggest Amish Horse Festival is Happening This Weekend (31st Edition)Wish I would have known about the event sooner. Where and when is the next one?
Callum July 3, 2025 at 1:44 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportThanks for your article on this, Erik. When I first saw the numbers, I was surprised given the relatively low growth - just over 10,000 people in this year, or 2.5% growth However, if you average out the percentage growth since 2020, when the population was 350,665, it works out roughly 3.4% population growth per year(maths below). In comparison, Niger, the world's fastest growing country, is growing at 3.3% per year. A population as small as the Old Order Amish is bound to have really uneven growth patterns (they grew more than 4% in 2024!), but over the long term that 3.5% average per year seems to hold true. ((411,060-350,665)/350,665)*100=17.2% growth since 2020 17.2/5 years = 3.44% growth per year
Guy in Ohio July 3, 2025 at 1:39 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportLike I said it can be a little tedious, but honestly I would compare the lists anyway just to satisfy my own curiosity so I’m more than happy to share the info.
Erik Wesner July 3, 2025 at 1:11 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportOuch! You get a double hat-tip for that 🙂
Guy in Ohio July 3, 2025 at 12:54 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportNo problem Erik. Comparing the lists can be a little tedious so I fully understand why you didn’t finish. My first time going through it I only found eight…so I had to start from the beginning a second time to find the ninth.
Guy in Ohio July 3, 2025 at 12:41 pm on The Year’s Biggest Amish Horse Festival is Happening This Weekend (31st Edition)I think it would be really cool to attend this event. Maybe someday…hopefully.
Erik Wesner July 3, 2025 at 12:15 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportNice observations here as well. Vevay #3 did catch my eye, I would like to learn what group they are. And also the reason for the reported decline in Holmes County.
Erik Wesner July 3, 2025 at 12:11 pm on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportThanks for doing the comparison to identify the nine. I started but didn't finish in the interest of publish time - will add it to the post with a hat-tip to you!
Jim July 3, 2025 at 11:35 am on Corner Ball – Traditional Game Of The Amish & Old Order Mennonites (15 Photos)Do they have pretty cheerleaders?
Guy in Ohio July 3, 2025 at 11:16 am on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportA few things I observed while going over the new list. 1. The new settlement of Vevay #3 is now the 3rd active and distinct settlement in the Vevay area. I wonder why a group of Amish would choose to start a new settlement so close to two existing settlements. 2. As Erik mentioned above South Dakota remains on the Amish map. I noticed that both the settlements there seem to be growing at a decent rate, both Hot Springs and Gregory seem to have a larger population than the community at Tripp ever had. 3. While comparing the list of the 12 largest settlements with last years list I noticed that all of these settlements had at least a little bit of growth…except for Holmes County which appears to have had a little bit of a decline. It went from 323 districts with an estimated population of 40,435 to 322 districts with an estimated population of 39,040.
Guy in Ohio July 3, 2025 at 11:00 am on The Amish Population Has Grown Over 130% Since 2000: New ReportI compared the 2024 list to the 2025 list and here are the new settlements. 1. Lexington, Jefferson County, Indiana 2. Vevay #3, Switzerland County, Indiana 3. Mount Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky 4. Friendsville, Garrett County, Maryland 5. Hersey #2, Osceola County, Michigan 6. Dadeville, Dade County, Missouri 7. Rock Island/Spencer, Van Buren County, Tennessee 8. Camp Douglas, Juneau County, Wisconsin 9. Port Loring, Parry Sound, Ontario
