Are There Amish in South Carolina? Yes & No (2 Locations)

Are there any Amish communities in South Carolina? The answer is no – if you mean Old Order (horse-and-buggy) Amish.

Now it’s true you’ll find references to Amish in South Carolina online. But in reality, you won’t find any horse-and-buggy Amish settlements in the state. In fact, South Carolina is one of 18 states with no Old Order Amish population.

However, there is something close to the Amish in the Palmetto State – notably in two locations in the state (Blackville and Abbeville). Read on for more.

Amishman in buggy looking over his shoulder as boy holds his hat — You won’t see Amish buggies on the road in South Carolina. Photo: Don Burke

Beachy Amish in South Carolina (Blackville)

Why do we see claims of Amish in South Carolina? Mainly because of a related community in the area of Blackville, SC. There has been a Beachy Amish Mennonite community located in that area since the 1960s.

Beachy Amish Mennonites, or simply Beachy Amish, share similarities with Old Order Amish. Those include wearing a form of plain clothing, and similar beliefs. But Beachy Amish differ from Old Order Amish in other ways – including acceptance of technology, and use of motor vehicles.

In short, Beachy Amish drive cars, but Old Order Amish (the people that come to mind when most folks think “Amish”), do not. Use of the car is a big “dividing line” between Amish and related groups (like some Mennonites as well). And that’s just one of the more obvious differences.

Girls in plain dresses and head scarves covering their eyes on a sunny day — Beachy Amish people share *some* things in common with Old Order Amish, including plain dress. Photo: Benedict Shegog/University Times

So it’s not unusual for people to mistake other plain groups for Old Order Amish, or group them together. And that is what’s going with South Carolina.

The people in Blackville, SC resemble the Amish visually. And they have “Amish” in their name. So you can understand why they might be called “Amish” by some folks.

Blackville SC Beachy Amish History

Interestingly, the Blackville community was in fact founded by Old Order Amish from the Midwest, who settled in the area in the 1960s. However, in time they became a more progressive, non-Old Order group.

As explained in GAMEO, “the climate and culture were difficult, so the decision was made to permit automobiles.” The Blackville community was at one time Old Order, but no longer. This is not unusual, and happens in Amish churches from time to time.

Finally, the name of their church is Calvary Fellowship Mennonite Church – another, more obvious indicator that this community is not an Amish one.

Visit the Blackville, SC Beachy Amish Mennonite Community

At the same time, the people at the Blackville community do operate a popular store called Healing Springs Country Store. The Yoder family runs this business. It is well-stocked with Amish-style products, and has a deli where you can get sandwiches. The store lies near God’s Acre Healing Springs, a natural spring which, according to legend, has healing powers.

A simple white country store building with metal roof — Healing Springs Country Store in Blackville, South Carolina

There is also a Pennsylvania Dutch-style restaurant called Miller’s Bread Basket in downtown Blackville, serving what they describe as “Amish-Mennonite Home Cooking”. The restaurant is well-reviewed and features a buffet, as well as “awesome” desserts, in the words of one patron.

The Beachy Amish Mennonite community at Blackville will share cultural – and for the hungry visitor, more importantly culinary – similarities with the Amish.

A simple restaurant sign on a tan painted brick building — Miller’s Bread Basket serves Pennsylvania Dutch-style food in downtown Blackville, SC. Photo: Miller’s Bread Basket/FB

So it’s certainly worth stopping for a meal at the restaurant, or checking out the store and picking up some canned goods, bakery items, or other treats if you’re looking for a taste of PA Dutch in the South.

The Abbeville, SC Beachy Amish Community

The Blackville Beachy Amish community is not the only one in the state. Another Beachy Amish-affiliated church can be found in the Abbeville, SC area. Known as the Cold Spring Mennonite Church, this congregation had a membership of 150 people as of 2017, according to GAMEO.

The church was established here not long after the Blackville people arrived. In 1969, members of the Kempsville Amish Mennonite Church near Virginia Beach, VA started settling in the Abbeville area. They decided to leave Virginia Beach due to the rapid urbanization and accompanying challenges, including tax increases and social problems.

Today, the Abbeville area, like Blackville, also has its own food-related attractions, including Swartzentruber’s Bakery, an enthusiastically-reviewed bake shop with a 40+ year history, located at the home of the owner.

One reviewer writes that “Fantastic bake goods and friendly staff. Only danger is you could gain 5 pounds just looking at these delightful goods.”

Several fresh shoofly pies on a rack — Shoofly pies on offer at Swartzentruber’s Bakery in Abbeville, SC

These aren’t the only Beachy Amish Mennonite churches in South Carolina. A third church, at Cross Hill, SC, is a daughter congregation of the Cold Spring Mennonite Church at Abbeville.

Old Order Amish in neighboring states

Though there are no Old Order Amish in South Carolina, you will find Amish people in states (relatively) nearby. The closest communities would be found over the border in North Carolina.

A settlement of very conservative Swartzentruber Amish has existed in the area of Ellenboro, just a 15-minute drive from the SC border, since 2015. Go a little further north to the area of Union Grove, and you’ll find another long-established Amish community.

Storefront of large general store with long porch — Shiloh General Store in the Union Grove/Hamptonville NC Amish community draws visitors from far and wide

Looking a bit further, in Tennessee there are over a dozen Amish communities. The Volunteer State has had an Amish presence since the 1940s. Today the state’s Amish population numbers in the thousands. Virginia similarly has a growing Amish population.

Elsewhere in the South, you’ll find a single, also very plain Amish community in Mississippi. It’s also worth mentioning the unusual, and by now, fairly well-known Florida Amish community. The neighborhood of Pinecraft in the Sarasota area has had a permanent Amish presence for nearly 100 years now. Relatively few Amish live there, though thousands of Amish visitors come in the cooler months for vacation.

Will the Amish ever come to South Carolina?

Though no Amish live in the Palmetto State today, as the Blackville story shows, there was once briefly a horse-and-buggy Amish community in SC, lasting from 1966-1968 (listed in Why Some Amish Communities Fail: Extinct Settlements, 1961-2007 by David Luthy).

Even though the state has no horse-and-buggy Amish population, it’s quite possible that will change in not-too-distant future. The Amish population is constantly growing, having surpassed 400,000 people in 2024.

Amish families move fairly frequently, seeking better economic opportunities, affordable farmland, and less-populated places to live, to name a few reasons.

With an Amish community lying just a dozen miles or so from the state border (at Ellenboro, NC), it’s certainly possible Amish will settle sometime soon in South Carolina.