West Virginia Amish Market Thrives Despite Raw Milk Law

Pocahontas County, West Virginia is home to a rather small Amish community of just a few dozen people.

The Amish arrived here in 2023, and for the past two years have been running a market store that sounds like it has become quite popular in the area. Attesting to that, one patron writes:

What a local treasure! This store has everything, from bulk dry goods to specialty cheeses to nursery plants and fresh donuts.

Proprietors were friendly. It is so worth a stop If you’re just visiting the area. If you live nearby, what are you waiting for?!?

And another adds:

We are so thankful for this little market in our neighborhood. They have a wonderful selection of produce and other pantry items.

Like another market we recently looked at in a different part of the state, it sounds like this Amish operation fills a need for quality food at an easily accessible location.

Doing well despite restrictions

The market has also just been written up in a local publication, The Pocahontas Times. We learn a bit of its story, including one challenge caused by restrictions on raw milk product sales:

The two-year mark is approaching in 2026 for the Amish families in Hillsboro, and their Hidden Creek Farm Market.

It was reiterated by Paul, one of the Amish community members, that the families like to work together for a common goal, and that the market has been a great source of cohesiveness between both the Amish community, Hillsboro residents, and the communities within the surrounding areas.

Just after opening in summer of 2024, legal provisions prohibited the Amish from selling unpasteurized raw milk in their market, though West Virginia House Bill 4911 had been passed earlier in March of that year. However, the bill wouldn’t go into effect for 90 days.

So, while this was a temporary hurdle for the market, they now sell unpasteurized raw milk as an addition to the plethora of other products – including homemade ice cream, by the way.

“We would like to do raw milk products – butter and yogurt… cottage cheese,” Paul said, “but we’re not allowed to do that.”

West Virginia’s law “regulate[s} raw milk sales and allow for limited direct sales of products if they are registered and labeled with warnings.” In practice this means that certain products like yogurt and butter require pasteurization in the state.

But, the market is doing well despite those limitations on a portion of its raw milk product sales:

Though the Hidden Creek Farm Market has experienced a bit of a setback when it comes to selling those particular dairy products, the market itself is thriving.

Paul said that the biggest change the market has seen in the last two years is the reliable production of fruits and veggies during the winter months, producing squash, cabbage, kale, lettuce, turnips, carrots. And offering pears, lemons, oranges. The list goes on! All of it, fresh produce.

Also on the list are sourdough bread, donuts, jams, and chicken BBQ on Saturdays.

As far as the restrictions on raw milk product sales, neighboring Pennsylvania, more than any other state (as far as the Amish go anyway) has seen a lot of noise around this topic in recent years.

It’s mostly been centered around the raw dairy business of Amishman Amos Miller, who in 2024 became something of a national political symbol in the ongoing controversy over government regulation of food – and who we’ve covered here multiple times before.

Miller has in the past made an economic argument for proceeding with raw milk product sales despite lacking permits, and has appealed to the deep-seated idea of wanting to keep his family on the farm.

The Amish in this West Virginia community, on the other hand, are making do without selling those products which aren’t allowed by law, and don’t seem to be too bothered by it.

It should be noted, though, that economic pressures are likely markedly lower in their part of West Virginia, than they are in heavily-populated Lancaster County, but that’s not the whole story.

If you’d like to visit Hidden Creek Farm Market

If you’d like to visit Hidden Creek Farm Market, here is the address:

Hidden Creek Farm Market
1455 Lobelia Road
Hillsboro, WV 24946 (1.5 miles off of Rt. 219 in Hillsboro)

Hours: Open Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Looks like a great market and one I’d love to visit if I had the chance. And might do just that, next time I’m in the Mountain State. If anyone knows this place I’d be curious to hear what you think.