The Amish of Adams County, Indiana (32 Photos)

berne-farm-amishFollowing our look at Adams County Amish household items, some photos illustrating life around this traditional Swiss Amish community.

The Adams County settlement is the fifth largest of all, with around 8,000 Amish residents.  A special thanks to our contributor who shares comments in addition to his photos below.

water-coolersWe typically see these types of water coolers inside the house, providing the family with drinking water. This well is a windmill powered pump.  Windmills are very common in the community.

amish-trampoline-indianaA trampoline in a yard. This is the first one I have seen in Berne. I assume they are there but not as common as in northern Indiana where what seems like a majority of families with small children have one.

berne-front-porchPerhaps the fridge is being used as a converted ice box?  Just speculation, but I’m sure it’s not plugged in.  We watched as blocks of ice were being delivered to R&S Sales by a “seafood and ice” truck from Ohio.

red-bell-amish

 

joni-schwartzThe most common last name in Adams County–along with names like Shetler, Christner, Eicher, Girod, Graber, Hilty, Wengerd, and Wickey rounding out the list of the most common last names.

hilty-cabinet

 

schwartz-manufacturing

 

hiltys-furniture-berne

 

amish-butchering-dayA group that was butchering/rendering.  They have a sausage stuffer and had a kettle of boiling water (not visible in the photo).

winter-stalks

 

water-pump-amishSchool.  Note the community drinking cups.  The Amish are never afraid to share the same glass, whether it’s at church, school or home.

water-cups

amish-school-handicap-rampRamp at school for those wheelchair bound.

amish-school-outhouse-indiana

 

adams-county-indiana-barn

 

berne-amish-fancy-chimneyThe chimney style seems to be somewhat common in the Berne community. Seems odd that with such plain features such a fancy chimney style is common.

amish-buggies-berne-indiana

 

no-buggy-parkingSign in front of a gas station.  Tobacco use appears permitted.  I have seen people purchasing tobacco products in such places and seeing men on buggies smoking pipes is not an uncommon sight.

berne-amish-open-buggyA family at Berne Christian Fellowship told me there is a division of New Order that recently developed in the community.  He said they drive closed buggies, but would have few New Order churches that would fellowship with them as some members are still using tobacco.

gas-powered-well-pumpGas powered well pump.

schwartz-shoe-storeMy favorite shoe store around.  John Schwartz is an older deacon in the district, a great guy to visit with and his shoes are much cheaper than those available here in Shipshewana.  I have ordered 3 pairs of shoes from him, plus taken a pair in for repair.

dog-on-porchDog and a pile of coal in bags.

converted-school-houseThere are a couple of area schools that have been converted to houses.  I believe this is one.

amish-outhouse-indianaOuthouse at a home we visited.

poultry-house-amishA new duck or poultry house.  Maple Leaf Farms and Culver Duck are two firms that contract with Amish growers to produce duck.

amish-poultry

amishville-usa-berne-indianaAmishville.

flooded-road-adams-county

road-flood-indiana

adams-county-flower-produce-auction

passing-amish

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    14 Comments

    1. OldKat

      Thanks for the photo's

      Great photo’s of an interesting community.

      Q: Is the low water crossing a regular feature in that community, or is that something that only happens after heavy rainfall or maybe a snowmelt?

      1. ShipshewanaIndiana

        Flooding due to snow melt.

      2. There’s a pair of photos here of a buggy crossing a similarly flooded road in southern Indiana: https://amishamerica.com/an-unusual-cros/

        I forgot to add that these were taken a couple of weeks ago. Not sure what the weather has been like in the meantime but with the amount of snow that has fallen in Indiana might be a few roads looking like this as it warms up.

    2. Alice Aber

      Great pics!

      Greetings,

      Thanks for sharing the pics, they were great!! Very interesting with the water pumps. And I had forgotten about Amishville camping. Might be a place to take a vacation this year. 🙂

      Blessings, Alice

    3. Debbie Halcomb

      Thanks for sharing the pictures Eric. I always enjoy seeing the different ways each community lives.

    4. Al in Ky

      Thanks for sharing the pictures. My favorite was the one of butchering/rendering. I’ve been to the Adams County settlement a couple of times in the fall, but never in winter, so enjoyed looking at the winter scenes.

    5. Hitzer Stoves and Pumps

      Hitzer Stoves in Berne bought out Heller-Aller Pumps, and has been the manufacturer since 1995. Hence their popularity in the community.
      http://www.hitzer.com/products/pump/

      1. ShipshewanaIndiana

        Interesting, thanks for sharing that information Paul. We are there once a month on business and I have seen many of those picture pumps in the houses. I didn’t realize hitzer was selling them.

    6. Alice Mary

      Whoa! That looks like a pretty steep “incline” for the handicapped ramp!

      I really like the photo of the brick schoolhouse converted to a house. Looks like it’ll stand forever! Sturdy!

      Thanks to the contributor (& Erik) for these interesting photos & comments/captions.

    7. Annmarie

      What a delight looking at those pictures. Thanks!

    8. Sandra Kathleen

      Thanks for the pics. Regarding the fridge on the porch: I have a 31 cf upright freezer purchased in 1977. We removed the motor and have it in our barn to hold canned jars and other things we didn’t want to have freeze. it does pretty well, which is why we’ve moved it with us 5 times.

    9. Juanita Cook

      Loved seeing all these great pictures.

    10. The common drinking glass- I remember that from my childhood (my favorite part of church was when they passed the pitchers of water and a glass along the rows part way through the service- this was usually accompanied by trays of ‘church cookies’ and was primarily for the kids- my mom was among the ones that would not let us go out to play during the service so this was a major diversion for us!); however, as an adult, I was completely taken aback at small gathering at my aunt’s house when I got thirsty and my aunt handed me a glass someone else had just drunk out of. My reaction was immediate and followed by immediate embarrassment on both of our parts- I was embarrassed for having embarrassed her. She was very gracious about it and got me a clean glass and I was amazed to realize how much I’d actually forgotten.
      Converting an old school into living quarters sounds like a fun idea! Would love to see the inside!

    11. Lilly Smith

      Thank you for the pictures. They are great. Are the amish people of Adam’s. Co. Old order or beachy. Where could I buy a cap and dress also would like to turn my religion to amish. What would be the required process to begin.
      Lilly