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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Dennis L. Hughes Amish Photo Exhibition (Lancaster County & More)

Dennis L. Hughes Amish Photo Exhibition (Lancaster County & More)

Last year we noted an exhibition of photographs by Dennis L. Hughes, who captured thousands of images of Amish life. This exhibition, at Elizabethtown College (Lancaster County, PA) has returned, and is currently running until August 4th. If you’d like to view the collection here’s more on how to do that, along with a link to the online exhibition: Amish Life in Focus: The Dennis…

Amish Dating: Are Marriages Arranged?

Amish Dating: Are Marriages Arranged?

 A viewer recently asked if Amish marriages are arranged on the Amish America YouTube channel. And the answer to that is a definitive “no”. Odds are you already knew the answer to this one. But I can kind of see where the question might come from – when looking at this religious society, which certainly must appear “strict” to some, from the outside. The…

Inside A Very Plain Ontario Amish Home (26 Photos)

Inside A Very Plain Ontario Amish Home (26 Photos)

This is the first Amish home I’ve seen listed online for sale in Canada. Amish have had a presence in Canada for nearly 200 years, the vast amount of that time only being found in Ontario. In recent years they’ve settled in three other provinces. From what I can tell this home is found in Huron County, in what would be known as the Lucknow…

Are Amish immune from high gas prices? 5 Reasons why the answer is “No”

Are Amish immune from high gas prices? 5 Reasons why the answer is “No”

Often when people look at the Amish – a horse-and-buggy people, after all – they assume they’re dodging the pain of high gas prices. But is that really the case? First, there was recently a humorous column by Star Beacon writer Shelley Terry “Hubby going Amish due to rising gas prices“, which illustrates this view well. An excerpt: When gas hit $5.09 a gallon, Hubby…

The North Carolina Swartzentruber Amish Community Has Grown (15 Images)

The North Carolina Swartzentruber Amish Community Has Grown (15 Images)

On Saturday my brother and I paid another visit to the Swartzentruber Amish settlement in western NC (the area of Polkville & Ellenboro). I am happy to report that the community is up to 22 households, up from around 14 in late 2019. At that time I had been informed a couple of families had moved away, and wondered if that signaled a declining trend….

Are the Amish “born again”? (Video)

Are the Amish “born again”? (Video)

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ~John 3:3 (KJV) This question has come up a lot over the years and has been addressed here before (see this post from 11 years ago titled Are Swartzentruber Amish “saved”?), so I did a video on it as well….

20 Images From Lancaster County

20 Images From Lancaster County

I collected some images from the recent week I spent in Lancaster County. Presented with some comments below, I hope you enjoy. First, a few signs. Eggs 4 Sale. Amish Road. And yes, Amish people live on it. There is also an Amishtown Road in the county. This motel is located in Denver. Maybe you didn’t know Denver is in Pennsylvania. This photo combines two…

Ohio Lawmakers Explain Buggy Light Law Without Explaining The Hardest Part

Ohio Lawmakers Explain Buggy Light Law Without Explaining The Hardest Part

The two sponsors of the new Ohio horse-drawn transport lighting law, state representatives Scott Wiggam and Darrell Kick, recently addressed the new stipulation that all horse-drawn transport have flashing lights affixed to the top of the vehicle: “The bottom line is, we believe fully that this will save lives,” Wiggam said. “The speed differential is just too great.” Kick agreed. “The objective is to reduce…

Inside A Million-Dollar Amish Home (24 Photos)

Inside A Million-Dollar Amish Home (24 Photos)

Realtor Amy Burns recently alerted me to this Amish home in the Geauga County community which just sold for $1,050,000. Now as we look inside you’ll see this is probably the most “un-Amish”-looking home we’ve covered here, and I suspect this home is going to surprise some people as being Amish-inhabited given its interior appearance in particular. A lot of the design aspects you’ll see…

Taking Amish Friends Shopping (4 Lancaster County Stores)
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Taking Amish Friends Shopping (4 Lancaster County Stores)

While in Lancaster County last week, I took Amish friends out to run some errands. We made it to four stores in three hours, in addition to a stop at the bank and another brief stop. I made a video describing the trip and the places we went (at bottom). I’ll also list the places here. Here they are in order. Have you ever visited…