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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Seven Amish Homes For Sale In One Community (40 Photos)

Seven Amish Homes For Sale In One Community (40 Photos)

I came across something that got my attention while searching for Amish homes to share with you. Right now there are at least 7 Amish homes for sale in the community at Hillsboro, Kentucky (Fleming County). What’s going on here? It looks like a lot of people are moving out of the area for some reason. This settlement is a small one, but not that…

The Stories of 5 Common Amish Family Names (Part 3)

The Stories of 5 Common Amish Family Names (Part 3)

We’ve got five more histories of common Amish surnames today. If you missed previous editions, here’s Part 1 (Beachy, Swartzentruber, Lapp, Hostetler, Stoltzfus) and Part 2 (Zook, Gingerich, Troyer, King, Lehman). The following histories are from the Family Life series “Amish and Mennonite Family Names” by Joseph Stoll, which ran from December 1968 to March 1969. I’ve added my own comments in some places in…

Cow Attacks Man At Amish Farm

Have you heard of cows attacking humans before? Bulls, sure, but run-of-the-mill dairy cows? Well, this happened yesterday in central PA: ELIMSPORT — A man, believed to be in his 70s, was recovering from injuries he suffered Monday afternoon when a dairy cow — weighing at least 1,000 pounds — suddenly attacked him and momentarily pinned him against a wall in a barn at an…

Pot Holders, Crib Quilts, Pickled Okra & More: A Week’s Worth Of Amish Home Businesses

Pot Holders, Crib Quilts, Pickled Okra & More: A Week’s Worth Of Amish Home Businesses

Back in February I shared with you 57 Amish businesses you can visit in Ethridge, Tennessee. This was based on a visitor’s map given out at a local business. Reader Al in KY has gone one better, and passed along a much fuller guide to Amish businesses in the community for your enjoyment. Says Al: “I counted up the number of Amish homesteads listed on…

An Amish Barn Raising: 12 Hours In 1 Minute (Time-Lapse Video)

An Amish Barn Raising: 12 Hours In 1 Minute (Time-Lapse Video)

Cool video. Amish in Vernon County, Wisconsin put up a barn over the course of twelve hours – condensed into a one-minute video (note: I believe they’ve edited the vid down further as it was originally about two minutes long). This time-lapse clip from 2016 shows the whole thing go up, interspersed with some still photos. Video at the bottom (credit Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). This…

Inside An Iowa Amish Home (19 Photos)

Inside An Iowa Amish Home (19 Photos)

This is an interesting Amish home. The outside looks like the home of a family in a plain or plain-ish community — but the inside suggests otherwise. The place is Bonaparte, Iowa (Van Buren County), a settlement of two church districts. The exterior design of the home is a very simple boxy architectural look, which would coincide with plainer churches. Not too many design frills…

Three Songs From The Singing Amish Sisters

Three Songs From The Singing Amish Sisters

Last week we heard two Amish sisters singing Amazing Grace, accompanied by one sister’s guitar playing. There were actually several more songs from that same after-dinner session that I wanted to share with you. It sounds like these lucky diners got a nice little concert. These songs are all a bit peppier than the slower Amazing Grace classic. First up is “Bigger Than Any Mountain“:…

4 Kinds Of Amish Gardens

4 Kinds Of Amish Gardens

With Spring upon us, new life is springing up everywhere we look – perhaps nowhere more apparent than in our gardens. And in Amish communities, it’s a rare home without a garden of some sort. But Amish homes are not all the same, and the typical garden you see in one community may be different or absent in another. Let’s have a look today at…

Amish Women Sew A Mask In 5 Minutes – With Foot-Powered Antique Machines (New Wilmington, PA)

Amish Women Sew A Mask In 5 Minutes – With Foot-Powered Antique Machines (New Wilmington, PA)

One more Amish mask post (last one?). This one was a little under-the-radar, but caught my attention for several reasons (via the Beaver County Times). One, this is probably the plainest Amish group I’ve seen involved in mask making. This is New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Amish here are not as strict as say Swartzentruber Amish, but this is one of the most traditional Amish communities. These…

Amish Sisters Sing “Amazing Grace” – With Guitar

Amish Sisters Sing “Amazing Grace” – With Guitar

This is a neat video. Two Amish sisters from Charm, Ohio sing perhaps the best-known of all Christian hymns, “Amazing Grace“. This was filmed after a meal in an Amish home – probably a home business which welcomes in English guests. Why is one of the girls playing guitar? You might have thought that Amish don’t play musical instruments. Well, Amish don’t play them to…