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.

LinkedIn
Controversial Lancaster County “Oregon Village” Project Approved On 3-2 Vote

Controversial Lancaster County “Oregon Village” Project Approved On 3-2 Vote

ByErik Wesner
4 Comments

It appears that the Lancaster County area will see a second controversial development come to fruition. Following the newly-approved satellite casino in Morgantown (technically in Berks County, on the edge of Lancaster’s Amish region), the Oregon Village housing development has been approved on a 3-2 vote by the Manheim Township Board of Commissioners. The development will bring over 500 new residential units to the rural…

Amish “Hand-Demolish” Historic Tennessee Building

ByErik Wesner
5 Comments

Who to call when you need your building “hand-demolished”? To the general public, “Amish” often equates to handcrafted – meaning hand-milked cows, handmade quilts, hand-built furniture, and the like (whether that perception is always accurate is another question). And in that spirit, one Tennessee city found that an Amish hands-on approach was exactly what they needed to remove a historic structure. The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reports that…

Colorado Amish Community To Build Meeting Hall

Colorado Amish Community To Build Meeting Hall

ByErik Wesner
4 Comments

We don’t often hear much on the Amish in Colorado, though there are a handful of Amish in the state, spread across four communities. But a recent snippet in the Conejos County Citizen brings word of the La Jara Amish settlement’s unusual plan…to build a meeting hall for community events: CONEJOS COUNTY — The La Jara Old Order Amish Church received permission for a needed structure…

Lancaster Amish Moving Into Towns & Subdivisions

ByErik Wesner
6 Comments

Lancaster Online reports on an increasingly popular option for housing among Amish in Lancaster County: But as their numbers grow, more Amish want to live in a village, town or suburban development and have a small stable for a horse, just as the non-Amish have garages for cars. “It’s become a trend among the Amish community to live on these smaller residential lots as they…

Amish “Music Mystery Supper” (Guess These 14 Food Riddles) [Updated With Winner]

Amish “Music Mystery Supper” (Guess These 14 Food Riddles) [Updated With Winner]

ByErik Wesner
7 Comments

While at the Amish Health & Well-Being Conference, I had a chance to catch up with my friend Mark Curtis. Mark joined the Amish at age 50 and has been a member of the church at Belle Center, Ohio for over 15 years. Some of you might remember Mark’s father Don, who for years commented on this site, often sharing insights on the Amish direct…

Amishman Arrested For Driving Buggy While Intoxicated

ByErik Wesner
17 Comments

An Amishman was arrested for DUI in Kentucky after sideswiping a car with his buggy last week. The 34-year-old man was traveling with his wife and seven children, ages 9 months to 12 years old. He faces 10 felony counts as a result. The man first attempted to claim that one of his children was driving, but the children confirmed it was their father holding…

PA Board Approves Casino On Edge of Lancaster Amish Country

PA Board Approves Casino On Edge of Lancaster Amish Country

ByErik Wesner
8 Comments

Looks like gambling will be coming to the doorstep of Lancaster County’s Amish region after all. Despite protests from residents, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board voted yesterday, unanimously, to approve a new casino project: Pennsylvania regulators on Wednesday approved Penn National Gaming’s proposed satellite casino in Berks County to attract gamblers from Philadelphia’s growing western suburbs, the first of five so-called mini-casinos licensed under a…

A Visit To Campus Ridge Farm Market – Elizabethtown, PA (9 Photos)

A Visit To Campus Ridge Farm Market – Elizabethtown, PA (9 Photos)

ByErik Wesner
2 Comments

The Amish are well-known for not attending higher institutions of learning. That noted, the business I want to share with you today might be the closest thing in America to an “on-campus” Amish operation. But first, a brief recap – I’ve just returned home after the better part of a week on an Amish trip. The centerpiece was attending the Health & Well-Being in Amish…

3 Amish Children Killed By Drunk Driver In Michigan

3 Amish Children Killed By Drunk Driver In Michigan

ByErik Wesner
15 Comments

An intoxicated driver rear-ended an Amish carriage Friday, taking three young lives: A fatal Friday collision involving an allegedly drunk truck driver and a horse-drawn buggy killed three children, said Michigan State Police. The Algansee Township crash, in which the pickup truck driver drove into the back of an Amish buggy, threw seven passengers — five children and two adults — from the carriage. MSP trooper…

Cathedrals, Castles & Caves: Winner & Excerpt (“Preacher On The Run”)

ByErik Wesner
5 Comments

We have a winner today of Marcus Yoder’s new book, Cathedrals, Castles, and Caves: The Origins of the Anabaptist Faith. If you missed it, you can find the Q-and-A with Marcus here. Excerpt from Cathedrals, Castles, and Caves But before we get to the winner, an excerpt from the book. The following is the full Chapter 24, entitled “Preacher On The Run”. In this excerpt, we learn…