And I write “Middle of Nowhere” with affection, because I happen to be quite fond of many middle-of-nowhere places. But in reality, this is somewhere – specifically the Sandhills of Nebraska. Amish who appear to be a part of the Michigan Circle (that group has been showing up a good bit here lately) have started up a new settlement in the area of a town…
From time to time, Amish America features published articles from the Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC). This one was published in Volume 3, No. 1 (2022) issue of JPAC, written by Edsel Burdge, who is a research associate with the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Edsel devotes a great deal of time to keeping track of…
The annual horse-and-buggy Amish population figures have been released by the Young Center at Elizabethtown College. The total Amish population is estimated at 383,565 people. That breaks down to 377,275 in the United States, 6,100 in Canada, and 190 in South America. And of course the count continues to steadily rise. If we look at the numbers from just five years ago, the Amish population…
Judy Stavisky, author of In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women, paid a visit recently to the Amish community at Unity, Maine, with stops at a pair of businesses. The Unity community has been featured here and in other media fairly often in the past. For example, here’s a look at some of the things that make Unity an atypical Amish community (which…
The Amish population is growing fast. It’s been growing fast for decades. And that doesn’t seem to be changing. How large will the Amish population get in our lifetimes? On the recent 1950s Amish film post, Lance left a comment that brought this back to mind: In 1900 there were just 5000 total Amish world wide. By this video’s filming, there were 8000 in just…
Large Amish communities and those with a tourist focus (often one and the same) tend to get the most attention. Places like Holmes County, Ohio, Arthur, Illinois, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania are both well-known and frequently-visited. There are also a number of sizeable Amish communities out there that are overlooked. They are more off-the-beaten path, less touristy for whatever reason, or overshadowed by neighboring communities….
About six weeks ago, I came across two Amish homes for sale in the community of Tripp, South Dakota (the only Amish location in the state). It seemed then that it might mean the Amish are leaving. Then just recently, I found a third Amish home for sale in the community. This is in an Amish settlement of just (an estimated) 55 people. Three homes…
I’ve put together a video overview of the Amish in Tennessee. The great footage is by Michael Pilkinton of the Amish of Ethridge, TN site/Facebook page. Michael traveled around the state to several communities beyond his home area of Ethridge, which gives a really nice visual overview of Tennessee Amish places. As of 2022: Approximately 3,715 Amish live in Tennessee Amish are found in 13…
With the expansion of the Amish to more and more locations (over 600 of them now in North America), and the recent addition of a new Amish state (New Mexico), it’s becoming easier to say where the Amish aren’t than where they are. Now, that said, many states just have a small Amish presence – seen in just a handful of settlements (Wyoming, Arkansas, North…
A glimpse at one of Kentucky’s Swartzentruber Amish communities today, courtesy of Don Burke. The community is in Graves County, KY, and is two church districts large. Let’s have a look at some photos of this plain Amish settlement. I’ll add a few comments as we do. Horseshoeing business open three days per week. The pole does double-duty as a birdhouse perch. I’m a bit…