Amish Communities

Following up 8 Snapshots From My Lancaster County Visit, here are 20 photos from my recent stay in Holmes County. The weather was on the gloomy side, and though my trip was short, I managed to pack a lot into 24 hours. That included 9 or 10 visits (some with old friends, some with new […]

Continue Reading 20 Snapshots From My Holmes County Visit (Updated)

New Amish settlements come about in different ways. Sometimes settlers from different places mesh differing backgrounds and church standards to create a new community. More often they have a distinct parent community responsible for the bulk of their initial residents. The daughter communities typically resemble the parent community – but are not necessarily carbon copies […]

Continue Reading Mother & Daughter Communities – Comparing 3 Amish Settlements (39 Photos)

I’m traveling on the way to Ohio now and haven’t had a chance to put together a post on Saturday’s visit to NC’s Swartzentruber Amish community and their first annual auction. It was a great visit and you can expect to see more on that soon. Here’s a preview shot, of an Amish auction patron […]

Continue Reading Evening Views From Burke’s Garden, Virginia (14 Photos)

The Amish community in the Sarasota-area Pinecraft neighborhood is one of the most unique Amish settlements. I went into more on why in the Florida Amish state guide page, as well as in the 40+ photo post about my 2013 visit. So if you don’t know much about this unusual community, I’d suggest checking out […]

Continue Reading Another Visit To The Amish At Pinecraft (44 Photos)

Going back again through some photos from earlier this year, I realized I still had a lot of shots from my visits to Charlotte County, Virginia. I’ve already written about this community several times – in posts on an “off-the-map” Amish dry goods store, on Amish phone shacks, and on Esh’s Variety Stand, a little […]

Continue Reading 10 Views Of The Charlotte County, Virginia Amish Community

Half of them are in Indiana. Two apiece in Pennsylvania and Ohio. And one in Illinois. The list of the top 10 largest Amish settlements doesn’t change much from year-to-year. These places generally have similar steady growth, and relatively few people leaving. Photo by Don Burke Still, I like to do a fresh post from […]

Continue Reading The 10 Biggest Amish Communities (2019)

You might have noticed that Amish settlements tend to cluster together on the map. Especially in high-Amish-population states, many communities lie within a short drive or even buggying distance. In fact, most individual Amish settlements are going to be within a half-hour to an hour’s car drive from at least one other settlement. Even when […]

Continue Reading 5 Remote Amish Settlements

Amish began moving to Manistee County, Michigan in the summer of 2018. A year later, there are nine families in this county which borders Lake Michigan, with more expected. In a nice article at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, three of those families share some insights on Amish life, and how they’ve adapted in the new […]

Continue Reading Thoughts From 3 Amish Families In A New Michigan Community

The Young Center has just published their annual Amish population numbers. As of 2019, an estimated 342,100 Amish live in four different countries. That includes Amish in: 31 US States 4 Canadian Provinces One settlement each in Bolivia and Argentina There don’t seem to be any big surprises after looking over the figures. Unlike most […]

Continue Reading From Idaho to Argentina: The Amish Population in 2019

Are the Amish starting to pay more attention to a state they have – til now – mostly ignored? A new community in West Virginia appears to be the latest example of a fresh trend of migration to the state. West Virginia lies wedged between Ohio and Pennsylvania, the two biggest Amish-population states. But for […]

Continue Reading Is West Virginia Amish Settlement Picking Up?