Favorite Posts Of 2020

I’m not sure that looking back “favorite” will be a word I’ll associate with 2020. But there were certainly bright spots in what most would probably agree was not the greatest year. In that spirit I am keeping with the usual tradition here of sharing a “favorite posts” year-end compilation.

These are posts which either got a lot of responses from you, or that I personally count as significant or among my favorites of the year.

I thank you all for reading, commenting and sharing on the site this year. Your contributions make it even better around here. I hope you enjoy this look back, and wish you all a Happy New Year and a good-as-possible 2021 to come.

These are categorized by topic, and more or less go chronologically within each category.

Amish Communities

Visiting Kalona, Iowa: The Town & Amish Community (23 Photos)
My Amish Settlement List (58 Communities)
5 Old – But Surprisingly Small – Amish Communities
Images of Burke’s Garden, Virginia (40 Photos)
7 Amish Communities I’d Like To Visit
A Visit To The Amish Of Pontotoc County, Mississippi (25 Photos)
A Visit To The Amish Of Knox County, OH (28 Photos)
Visiting The Amish At Whitefield, Maine
The Amish Population In 2020
The 10 States With The Most Amish Settlements
2020 Nationwide Amish Settlement List (State & County)
Which Community Should You Visit? 7 Differences Between Lancaster County & Holmes County


Questions

Why Do Some Amish Ride Scooters (But Not Bicycles)?
Who Put Up This “Anti-Rumspringa” Billboard?
How Do Amish Choose Baby Names?
What Is Pon Hoss?
Are There “Different Levels” Of Amish?
What Is “Dutchified” English?
Orange Buggy Flags?
Beware of Amish-Made Pies?
A Go Fund Me For An “Amish Escapee”?
Should Amish Buggies Have A Yearly Safety Inspection?
Amish Driver Help Wanted Ad – Is It Worth It?
What Makes A Good Amish Store?
Are These “Fake Amish”?


Amish Insights

5 Insights From Amish Bishop Monroe Yoder
An Interview With Swartzentruber Amishman Dennis Hershberger (Video)
A Visit With “Amish Woman”


Amish History

Amish Settlement Attempts Since The 1700s
Rules Of A Pennsylvania Amish Church (1897)
The Stories Of 5 Common Amish Family Names
The Ludwig Riehl Story
Two Historic Amish Homes
Anabaptists in Salm (Alsace)
A Historical Look At The Amish (Audio Lecture by Mark Louden)
Elam Stoltzfus: Rediscovering the Ausbund


Amish Homes

Look Inside A New York Amish Home (12 Photos)
Look Inside An Indiana Amish Farmhouse (18 Photos)
5 Types Of Lamps In Amish Homes (22 Photos)
Inside A Plain Michigan Amish Farm Home (18 Photos)
Look Inside A (Very) Plain Amish Home (25 Photos)
Inside A Very Small (768 ft2) Amish Home (17 Photos)
Inside An Amish “Baby Farm” Home (26 Photos)
A 91-Acre Amish “Cattle Farm” & Home (13 Photos)
Inside A Colorado Amish “Mini-Ranch” Home (22 Photos)
Inside A $45,000 Amish Home (16 Photos)
Inside A 5,500 1,840 ??-Square-Foot Amish Home (23 Photos)
Inside A Rustic Colorado Amish Home (14 Photos)
An “English-Ready” Swartzentruber Amish Home (15 Photos)
Inside A Tennessee Amish Home (13 Photos)
Wisconsin Amish Farmhouse For Sale (14 Photos)
A 122-Acre Amish Farm For Sale (16 Photos)
Amish Home Exterior Decor (14 Photos)


News Stories

Amish Sewing 13,000 Masks For Donation
English Neighbors Show Love To Amish In Difficult Time
Amish Women Sew A Mask In 5 Minutes – With Foot-Powered Antique Machines (New Wilmington, PA)
Amish Returning COVID-19 Stimulus Checks
“Amish Tourism” To Colorado Town Hit By Amtrak Cuts
Man Paralyzed After Amish Farm Cow Attack Recovering
Linda Stoltzfoos’ Family Asks For Prayers & Letters
Linda Stoltzfoos Prayer Ride Draws Thousands
CAM Volunteers Clean Up Storm-Ravaged Cedar Rapids Neighborhood
Calf Barn Already Rebuilt Following Devastating Fire
Lancaster City Is Not “Amish Country”
Holmes County Amish-Powered Effort Produced “Several Million” Masks & Gowns (Video)
Buggy Lanes Coming To Geauga County
State Trooper Saves Amish Toddler In Runaway Buggy
Amish Cook Gloria Yoder On The Hochstetler Shooting


Businesses

 

Mattie’s Place of Burke’s Garden, Virginia (27 Photos)
Baked Goods by Mary Mast (Ethridge, Tennessee)
6 Lehman’s Products Used By The Amish
David Riehl, Amish Quilt Dealer (1987)
At A “White-Topper” Auction (28 Photos)
Inside An Amish Food Store (21 Photos)
Yoder Brothers Auctions
Shop Like The Amish At Shetler’s Wholesale (Now Online)
Lancaster County Amish Farm Stays (2020)
Q-and-A with John Esh of Goot Essa Cheese
My 30-Minute Visit To Shiloh General Store @ Union Grove, NC (33 Photos)
Stay On An Amish Homestead At “The Doddy House”


Books & Publications

Brad Igou on Amish Voices: A Collection of Amish Writings
Ira Wagler on Broken Roads: Returning To My Amish Father
The Journal Of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC)
17 Amish Periodicals
German Lutherans to Pennsylvania Amish: The Stoltzfus Family Story


Singing

Amish Sing “I Am Free” Underground In NYC (Video)
Three Amish Teens Sing “The Whippoorwill Song” (I Give You Freedom)
New Order Amish Youth Group Singing (4 Songs)
Amish Sisters Sing “Amazing Grace” – With Guitar
Amish Girl Musical Group Plays For Plain Crowd (Video)
Amish Church Singing: Lebt Friedsam (Audio)
Amish Singing On Amtrak (Video)
John Schmid Sings “Amish Nicknames”
Lancaster Amish Family Evening Singing At Home (Video)
Four Amish Wedding Songs
Amish Children Sing For Thanksgiving (Video)
Amish Girls Sing “Joy To The World” (Video)


In Remembrance

Marlene Miller 1944 – 2020
William C. Lindholm 1932 – 2020
Lillian Fern Stoltzfus 1974 – 2020


Slices of Amish Life

Trying On Hats At Yoder’s
Disembarking In Portland
Moving Mountains Of Hay
End Of The Commons
Business Is Slow
Making Soft Pretzels


Grab Bag

5 Natural Remedies Used By Amish
An Amish Barn Raising: 12 Hours In 2 Minutes (Time-Lapse Video)
4 Kinds Of Amish Gardens
Amish Men Move A Barn – Video (Best Version)
“An Amishman’s Guide To Computer Lingo”
Wanted: Amish Romance Plot Writer?
5 Facts On The Amish & Hunting
The 3 Biggest Road Safety Dangers – According To Ohio Amish
An Amish First Date
Lancaster Buggy At Sunset (Drone Video)
Fundraiser & Card Shower For Amanda King & Family
Life In A Belize Mennonite Colony (Documentary)
5 Vintage Amish Postcard Scenes
Water Pump Challenges In An Amish Home
4AM – 8PM: A Day In The Life Of An Amish Family
Three Hundred And Ten Descendants
9 Ways Amish Women’s Lives Have Changed
Lydia Stoltzfus Shares Her Scrap Quilts (Video)
Amish Crew Dismantle Then Rebuild Barn (10 Photos)
Name That Amish Community: Church Sunday Edition

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    10 Comments

    1. sylvie

      Merci pour vôtre site, d’apporter toutes ces informations enrichissantes..
      Bonnes Fêtes
      Sylvie

    2. Jessica

      2020

      Thank you for all the post and work you do!!!!

    3. Leslie Harris

      Favorite Posts Of 2020

      Erik,

      Thank you so much for taking the time to run an interesting, insightful and enjoyable site. I’ve been on here for a short time, but have been reading the articles from years back – what a wonderful walk through history! Even the tragic stories have something to teach us.

      I’ve continued to gain more knowledge of the Amish through the authors, musicians, photographers, fellow posters, academics and your personal travelogues through Amish settlements throughout the country, meeting with and speaking to the Amish directly about their histories and experiences.

      Please continue with your great work through 2021 and beyond – you have a VERY appreciative audience!

      Happy New Year to everyone at Amish America! 🙂

      1. Very glad to hear that Leslie – I plan to keep going for as long as possible. Happy New Year!

    4. Sunflower

      Favorite posts

      I very much enjoyed reading this site the last few years. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of all the different Amish and other “Plain” groups. It’s good for people to learn that not all Amish are alike. This happens with Native American tribes too. I homeschooled for 15 years and had many discussions with parents asking questions about “Indians”. I always told people to pick a tribe to study. Each group has its own history,traditions, and beliefs. It’s the same with all the Plain groups so we can not make blanket statements. Thank you for helping people realize this! Also, I remember you wrote once about traveling to sell books door to door a long time ago. I wondered if you came to Southeastern Massachusetts. When I first saw your picture it reminded me of a young man who came knocking on our door in 1990. I remember my daughter was 2 years old and I was expecting my 2nd daughter. Was that you?! My husband placed a big order of children’s books which came in handy as we began teaching at home shortly after. Thanks again and here’s to a brighter New Year!

      1. Thanks Sunflower. And really neat to hear that bookselling story. I never sold in Massachusetts, and that would have been a few years before my first year (1998). I was mostly in Midwestern states (where I met the Amish in Illinois in 2004). Neat to hear the books came in handy back then, it very well may have been the same company I worked for.

    5. HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL

      As “Sunflower” said, thank you Erik for sharing your knowledge about the Amish. 2020 was another very successful year of learning from you.

      As for Native American tribes, I think of the Lenape Indians that William Penn encountered when arriving in America. Penn wrote to them in advance:

      My friends. There is one great God and power that hath made the world and all things therein, to whom you and I, and all people owe there being and well-being, and to whom you and I must one day give an account for all we do in the world; this great God hath written his law in our hearts, by which we are taught and commanded to love and help, and do good to one another, and not to do harm and mischief one to another.”

      This sums things up well, and I plan to practice this in 2021. Bob

      1. Thanks for sharing that Bob, I particularly liked the part “this great God hath written his law in our hearts”.