The Amish In The “Middle Of Nowhere” (One Year Later)
Back in December of 2023, that’s how I described the fledgling community being founded at the time in the Sandhills region of Nebraska.
Why “Middle of Nowhere”? This is why:
Amish who appear to be a part of the Michigan Circle (that group has been showing up a good bit here lately) have started up a new settlement in the area of a town called Valentine. Though in fact the community is some 40 miles from Valentine. It just happens to be the closest mailing address (which is how some Amish communities are “named”).
I wasn’t familiar with the Sandhills region until I spoke with Paul Hammel, the reporter who did the article at the Nebraska Examiner. Apparently it is a very remote and sparsely-populated area. Just like some Amish people like it.
So just how middle-of-nowhere is this middle-of-nowhere place? Well, the county in question is Cherry County. This is a big county by area – the largest in Nebraska. In fact, it’s larger than the entire state of Connecticut – but has a population less than 5,500 people.
Amish are drawn to remote regions for various reasons, including land cost and sometimes related to that, lifestyle and occupation reasons (more on that below).
There are certainly some even more sparsely populated areas in the country, but this is way up there. The nearest settlement “of size” to the Amish is actually the village of Kilgore (population: 77).
How is the community doing one year later?
So how has this new community been faring? A new report from News Channel Nebraska gets us caught up on things with an interview of one of the community’s members (Hat-tip to Sara):
One of the state’s newest Amish communities is taking root near the Niobrara River, south of Kilgore.
“We kind of like the West, so that’s why we came back out here,” said James Yoder, who moved to the area a year and a half ago after living in Michigan and Indiana.
The Amish are known for establishing new communities as their population expands. Yoder said that’s exactly what’s happening here. So far, nine families have settled in the area, but that number is expected to grow. He anticipates the community will reach a maximum of 20 families.
“If that gets full, we’re going to have to spread out to a new area and do that again. That’s probably what will happen,” Yoder explained.
The community is described as “steadily growing”. Last year’s Settlement List had them at an estimated 50 people.
If they’re up to nine families now, that could be closer to 70 or 80, or possibly more, depending on family size (especially since the bishop’s family is 13 people in size, according to the 2023 Nebraska Examiner article).
There is also this detail on occupations:
Like many Amish communities, this one is built on a foundation of faith, family, and hard work. Yoder owns Canyon Country Cabins, while other families operate cabinetry shops and saw-sharpening businesses. Farming and ranching also play a significant role in their livelihood. Though some modern equipment, such as tractors, is used, horses and buggies remain a common sight.
“There’s some general construction work and, of course, ranching. There’s a lot of interest in ranching,” Yoder said.
That might give you a clue to the attractiveness of this area to members of this community, many of whom came from much more populated areas of the Midwest.
Participating in an article like this is also probably a shrewd move by Yoder. He was able to insert a little plug for his business, and raise general awareness of the Amish in this remote corner of the state.
It occurred to me that if enough Amish decided to make the move, and the non-Amish population of Cherry County continues its decline, then the Amish population could become a significant-sized minority in the county in a relatively short time.
But on the other hand, this is a Michigan Circle community. And they tend to intentionally limit the sizes of their communities, as Joe Donnermeyer related to us in his post on Edsel Burdge’s JPAC article on the Michigan Circle. Yoder’s quote above about eventually having to “spread out” reflects this.
NCN also did a nice video report on the community, with a lot of great visuals. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to properly embed their native video player here, but you can view it at the article link above.
As a state, Nebraska has a very small Amish population (around 600 people, #22 of 32 states). But since 2020, they’ve added four new communities. So there is a definite uptick in Amish interest in the Cornhusker State.
Credit
It would have been great to be given credit for providing the update on the Amish community by Kilgore.
Sorry Sara, I usually always do that, forgot this time. I added a hat-tip above. Thanks!
Credit
It would be great if I would be given credit for passing along these links & information.
See above.