The Amish community at Fort Fairfield, Maine is turning 10 years old, and Bangor Daily News has an article on the community with comments from founder Noah Yoder. With his wife and 11 children, Yoder moved to the area from upstate New York as the settlement’s first family in August 2007. We have looked at this settlement once before in 2013, following a piece in…
The Young Center at Elizabethtown College now has estimates available for the Amish population in 2017. Amish are currently found in 31 states, three Canadian provinces, and two South American countries (Argentina and Bolivia). You’ll find the population overview here. You can view state/province/country figures here. One new addition this year: interactive maps showing the population in each state and province. You’ll also find a list of the 12…
For a state with few Plain people, the Amish in Maine sure get a lot of coverage. Over the past several years, we’ve seen news stories on the atypical Amish community at Unity, ME, Amish convert and Unity resident Matthew Secich, the conservative Amish enclave at Fort Fairfield, and the Smyrna Mills community, the state’s oldest. Last year, Maine press outlets began covering a community in the works…
Where have the Amish been settling lately? How rapidly are they growing? Where are the Amish “hot spots” on the map? Over the past half-decade or so, the Amish have boosted their presence on the US (and world) map by adding communities in new, often never-before-settled places. These include four new states (Vermont, South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho), a pair of Canadian provinces (New Brunswick and Prince Edward…
Don Burke shares some photos from a visit to the Amish community at Canton, Missouri (Lewis County). This nearly four-decade-old settlement was three church districts in size as of last year (2023). Canton is one of many Amish places in the Show-Me State. Today Amish live in over 60 locations in Missouri. These photos were actually taken in early 2015. I hope you enjoy this…
Two years ago, reader Shawn gave us a nice look at the Giles County, Virginia Amish community (also referred to by the name of Pearisburg, an area town). This Appalachian community is tucked away in the scenic mountains of western Virginia. Though I’ve previously visited Amish in VA and have passed within shouting distance several times on visits to Amish Ohio, regrettably I’ve never stopped in…
As of 2016, there are over 500 Amish-settled locations in the world. Most of those communities are quite small. For every large settlement like Lancaster County there are dozens of 1- and 2-church district communities. The Glens Falls Post-Star recently published a well-written and researched 3-part look at one of those small settlements, a relatively new Amish outpost in eastern New York. Amish moved into the Whitehall…
After last week’s look at the Belleville auction and Amish farming, Jerry returns to take us on a little drive through Big Valley: The Big Valley is alive and well with Amish settlements. When you drive out into the country you see schools everywhere. It almost appears that you can find one every four miles. Most look fairly new, simple, modest one room structures with…
After Tuesday’s visit to the Belleville auction and market, Jerry continues with a look at two aspects of farming among Amish in Big Valley. Below you’ll find more on one old-fashioned technology still in use in this community, and on an environmental challenge involving Amish farmers. Thanks to Jerry’s report, I learned more than I thought there was to know about the cans some Amish use to…
The Amish settlement located at Kishacoquillas Valley in Pennsylvania is one of America’s oldest and arguably its most colorful, at least in a literal sense. While it’s rather off the beaten path, found in central Pennsylvania about two hours from Lancaster County, this community is pretty well-known for its three main Amish affiliations, each of which uses a different-colored buggy top. The Nebraska Amish can…