Amish in Tennessee

With eight communities and a population over 2,300 (2014), Tennessee has a significant Amish presence.

Founded in 1944, the settlement at Ethridge has since grown to 10 church districts in size, and is the state's oldest and largest Amish community by far.

Read more about the Volunteer State's Amish communities in our Tennessee Amish article archives (below), or at the Tennessee Amish State Guide entry.

Local produce auctions can be an important sales outlet for Amish farmers. An Amish person from Ethridge, Tennessee explains for a story in the Tennessean: “We nearly have to keep the auction going to keep our families together. It’s for our future. We want our kids to have an outlet to sell at a fair market.” The […]

Continue Reading The Plowboy Produce Auction at Ethridge, Tennessee

Today Brenda shares some photos that tie together a few of the topics we’ve covered lately, namely Amish business, buggy safety, and small communities.  The shots below are from the Amish settlement in Carroll County, Tennessee. Carroll County is in western Tennessee, about a 2-hour drive in either direction from Nashville or Memphis. The Amish […]

Continue Reading Amish in West Tennessee

This article in USA Today looks at Amish growth in Tennessee. As of 2012, the Young Center lists the number of Amish settlements in Tennessee at 6. UPDATE: As of 2014, the Tennessee Amish population has grown to 8 communities and a population of over 2,300. As the largest in the state, the Ethridge Amish settlement […]

Continue Reading Amish Communities in Tennessee

Tonya Clifford shares a batch of photos today from Ethridge, Tennessee.

Continue Reading Tennessee Amish Photos

The Ethridge, Tennessee Amish community is the largest in the South. It’s a Swartzentruber Amish settlement founded in the 1940s. Today there are about 1,500 Amish living here. Typical of Swartzentruber settlements, it is a farming community supplemented by a lot of small shops and home enterprises. Amish commerce extends off the farm with some […]

Continue Reading Ethridge, Tennessee Amish Map

You might remember some photos of the Ethridge, Tennessee Amish shared by reader Adair Faust.  She has kindly sent in another batch from a recent visit.  You can see the fall colors are in full swing in this conservative Amish community: Read more on the Ethridge Amish community, the largest settlement in the Volunteer State.

Continue Reading Autumn in the Ethridge, TN Amish community

I’m staying with Amish friends in Lancaster County this week, but will try to get to a computer soon.  In the meantime reader Adair shares some photos taken in the Ethridge, Tennessee area. Thanks Adair for the nice photos.  Read more on the Ethridge TN Amish.

Continue Reading Ethridge TN Amish Community

Last year I visited the Ethridge, Tennesse Amish community.  I was surprised to find that Ethridge is the Amish mecca of the South. For being a conservative Swartzentruber community, the place is crawling with tourists (relatively speaking, of course.  Lancaster County, this ain’t). It’s also a charming place to visit.  It’s got a rural feel […]

Continue Reading 10 Views of the Ethridge, Tennessee Amish

The Amish community at Ethridge is one of a handful in Tennessee, and at ten church districts, the largest Amish settlement in the South.  The Amish here are of the Swartzentruber “lineage”, meaning low levels of technology, numerous farms, and buggies lacking the Slow Moving Vehicle triangle.  Ethridge is unusual as a sizeable and long-established […]

Continue Reading The Amish of Ethridge, Tennessee

Here’s an interesting article on a produce auction in the largest Amish settlement in Tennessee (article no longer online).  The settlement of ten church districts at Ethridge, Tennessee, is a conservative Swartzentruber Amish affiliation. So it was interesting to see local Amish contributing to this article, as well as learn that the area has something […]

Continue Reading Tennessee Amish Produce Auction