Amish Communities

New York is home to America’s fifth-largest Amish population. Over 25,000 Amish live in dozens of locations across the state. These ten communities are the largest in New York, based on the most current Amish population estimates. Population numbers via Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (source link at bottom). 1. Heuvelton Heuvelton (St. Lawrence County) Community founded: 1975 Total Amish…

Wisconsin is home to America’s fourth-largest Amish population, with over 27,000 Amish living across the state. These ten communities rank as the biggest in Wisconsin, based on the most current Amish population estimates. While Wisconsin does not have many very large Amish communities, the state makes up for it in number –  having the second-most individual Amish settlements of any state. Population numbers via Young…

Reader Shawn has been visiting the Amish community at Pearisburg, Virginia for over a decade now. The first visit of Shawn’s we saw here was back in 2014, followed by a return in 2016 to check on the newly opened Walker Valley Market. I’ve made a couple of visits myself – one on a rainy February day in 2020, and another in December 2020 when…

Ohio is home to America’s second-largest Amish population, with over 86,000 Amish living across the state. These ten communities rank as the biggest in Ohio, based on the most current Amish population estimates. Population numbers via Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (source link at bottom). 1. Holmes County Area Holmes County Area (Holmes, Wayne, Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Stark Counties) Community founded:…

Indiana is where you’ll find America’s third-largest Amish population, with over 67,000 Amish living across the state. These ten communities rank as the biggest in the Hoosier State, based on the most current population estimates. Note: two communities tie for the #10 spot, so eleven communities appear below. Population numbers via Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (source link at bottom)….

A recent piece by Marjorie Struckle in Lancaster Farming does a good job profiling something that, across the nearly 700 Amish settlements in North America, I suspect is not too uncommon — a rural community where the Amish and their non-Amish neighbors have built something genuinely mutual. The setting is Otsego County in central New York. That county is home to a full three Amish…

We often think of the Amish as living in the Midwest, and states like Pennsylvania. But Amish communities in the South are nothing new. States like Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee have seen their Amish populations grow robustly in recent decades. However, there’s one part of the South that the Amish have (for whatever reason) not settled — the “Deep South”. The Deep South is most…

How about a look-in at another off-the-beaten-path Amish settlement? This one is at Kahoka, Missouri, in the northeastern corner of the state. The photos here are all by Don Burke. The Kahoka community (Clark County) today is two church districts in size, with a little over 200 Amish residents. It’s just one of over 60 Amish settlements in Missouri. These photos were taken back in…

In the most recent Amish population report, we learned that a total of nine new Amish communities had been started in the prior year. New Amish communities come together and grow in different ways. Some see much enthusiasm from the get-go, rapidly attracting new families, some or many of whom may be related. In contrast, others are slow growers, taking time to draw in settlers….

I wanted to share some photos from my visit to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania last month. Starting Saturday night and into Sunday morning, we got a nice solid snow, which left the area blanketed in a beautiful white fluffy layer. The next morning, church service was conveniently being held at the home of friends where I was staying, so it was a great chance to attend….