Author: Erik Wesner

Erik Wesner is the creator of amishamerica.com, and author of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look At Why Amish Businesses Thrive. Erik began visiting Amish communities in 2004 – eventually meeting thousands of Amish families while selling books.

He began writing about the Amish on this website in 2006, and is often cited in national media, including USA Today, The New York Times, and others on a wide range of Amish topics. A native of North Carolina, Erik has visited dozens of Amish communities across the country, and loves spending time with Amish friends and discovering new Amish places.

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Slice of Amish Life: Cold Homemade Root Beer

Slice of Amish Life: Cold Homemade Root Beer

I am sure some of you are going to recognize this sign today. I would even call it semi-famous at this point by virtue of it being photographed so much due to its location. The sign is an advertisement for a long-running root beer business at an Amish farm just outside Intercourse, Pennsylvania, the heart of tourism in the country’s most-visited Amish settlement. If you’ve…

Look Inside a Lovely Amish Farm Home (29 Photos)

Look Inside a Lovely Amish Farm Home (29 Photos)

Reader Jerry brought to my attention a silent auction concluding today in Millersburg, PA, of an Amish-owned organic dairy farm. They’ve provided quite a few photos from inside the home, and of the property, which you can see below. These are some of the better photos I’ve seen of an Amish home and property. Jerry writes that “These Amish are a spin off of the…

Delaware Market Shut Down; Amish Faulted

Delaware Market Shut Down; Amish Faulted

Spence’s Bazaar is a flea market/farmer’s market in Dover, Delaware. The market has a significant Amish presence including some popular food outlets. This is a nice account of the place, which has an 85+ year history. Image: Spence’s Bazaar Delaware State News now reports that they have been shut down temporarily, and you get one guess what it has to do with: DOVER — The…

Elam Stoltzfus: Rediscovering the Ausbund (Part 3)

Elam Stoltzfus: Rediscovering the Ausbund (Part 3)

Today we have part 3 of 4 in Elam Stoltzfus’ series on the Ausbund. If you missed them, here are parts 1 and 2.  2017 was the 500 year anniversary of the start of the Reformation. The anniversary commemorated Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses on the church doors in Wittenberg in 1517, which was one of many actions that led to the formation of…

Humorous “Amish” Photo Promotes Pothole Repair

Humorous “Amish” Photo Promotes Pothole Repair

Someone is hoping a funny photo gets roads repaired in Geauga County, Ohio. The Geauga Maple Leaf shared this photo on their Facebook page. In it we see a pair of Amish trousers upside down in what appears to be a deep pothole puddle. Completing the picture, an Amish straw hat and a couple items including a lunch cooler lie by the side of the…

Amish Crew Advertises On Craigslist

Amish Crew Advertises On Craigslist

This morning I came across a pair of ads from an Amish builder named Junior Weaver on Craigslist. It’s always interesting to see the ways Amish companies, in this case construction outfits, promote themselves. Some do so with full-fledged websites, like my friend John Smucker in Lancaster County. Others rely primarily on word-of-mouth. The approach a business owner selects will in part reflect his church’s…

A Visit To The Amish Of Summers County, West Virginia (42 Photos)

A Visit To The Amish Of Summers County, West Virginia (42 Photos)

On the morning of Christmas Eve, I visited an Amish community in Summers County, West Virginia. This is near the Virginia border, about a half hour’s drive from the Pearisburg, VA settlement. The town is Forest Hill. The first place we came across was this double-business – Shady Hillside Variety Store and Kountry Crust Bakery.   Inside. Keeping things toasty. On completing my purchase, I…

Amish Organic Farm For Sale (16 Photos)

Amish Organic Farm For Sale (16 Photos)

So this is one of the rougher-looking Amish places we’ve seen – maybe the roughest. You can see the exterior has an unfinished scruffy look to it. Inside, the place has been cleaned out, and also appears unfinished in parts. But it is a certified organic farm (or at least was until recently – it’s been on the market for the better part of a…

Slice Of Amish Life: New Year’s Ice Hockey

Slice Of Amish Life: New Year’s Ice Hockey

In this slice of Amish life, young men play ice hockey on New Year’s Day. This is Barren County, Kentucky, which has several Amish communities. The photos were taken in 2018. We don’t have the full view, but I’m curious what they are using for goals. Are they some sort of hockey nets or something simpler? The photos were taken by Don Sniegowski (via Flickr)….

Favorite Posts Of 2020

Favorite Posts Of 2020

I’m not sure that looking back “favorite” will be a word I’ll associate with 2020. But there were certainly bright spots in what most would probably agree was not the greatest year. In that spirit I am keeping with the usual tradition here of sharing a “favorite posts” year-end compilation. These are posts which either got a lot of responses from you, or that I…