 Here’s a look at six surprising facts about the Amish and cars. Contrary to some belief, the Amish do make use of cars – just not as drivers. They are often passengers in cars, may hire non-Amish to drive them, and in some cases even own their own vehicles (e.g., for work purposes). This article answers questions including: What is an “Amish taxi“? Do…
Just a small addendum to the post on the tragic loss of a three-year-old in upstate New York. In that one I made the frequently-made point that different Amish do things differently, and also that some ways of being Amish are more dangerous on the whole than others. Following that post, Jim Halverson has sent in some photos of an Amish vehicle with child safety…
Tragedy hit on Sunday in an upstate New York community. A young Amish boy lost his life after falling from a buggy. There are not a lot of details, but this is most of the report at news10.com: New York State Police confirmed that on September 12, troopers responded to a report of an accident involving an Amish buggy on Elmer Road in Moira. According…
Reader Rebecca Rury recently took a visit to the only Texas Amish community, at Beeville in Bee County. She stopped in at the community’s best-known Amish business – Borntrager’s Combination Shop – but writes that she “didn’t get to chat with Mr. Borntrager as he was busy shoeing a horse.” Mr. Borntrager is the owner of the combination shop, and the bishop of this community….
Photographer Don Burke has been taking pictures of the Amish for many years, and we have featured his photos here on the site on many occasions since 2014. Don has kindly answered some questions about his photos, interest in the Amish, what the Amish think, and more. This is part one of a two-part interview. Amish America: How long have you been a photographer? Are…
I like drawing attention to these Amish business maps, and it seems more and more communities are creating them. Other recent examples we’ve seen include maps for communities in Buchanan County, Iowa, Livingston County, New York, and Crittenden County, Kentucky. It makes sense as a good way to attract visitors and of course supports the local Amish community. The map we look at today features…
A reader shared this week’s Amish home, currently advertised for sale at Zillow among other places. It technically has an Etna Green address, which would make it the south side of the Nappanee, Indiana settlement. The home has been mostly cleaned out, giving it a very sparse and bare appearance, but furniture has stayed behind in one or two rooms, along with some other details…
Homeschooling is uncommon among the Amish. Why? Karen Johnson-Weiner suggests in her book Train Up A Child that it conflicts with the concept of community, so important to the Amish. But, some do homeschool. I know at least one Amish family who has. They happen to be members of a New Order Amish church. Amish Cook columnist Gloria Yoder also belongs to a New Order…
What is an “Ohio Nebraska” Amish home? It’s a home of a Nebraska Amish family located in Ohio. And who are the Nebraska Amish? This is a small group of traditionally quite conservative Amish, who originated in Pennsylvania. Am I making this sound more confusing than it actually is? Well, their name comes from the origin state of Yost H. Yoder, a bishop who helped…
So in addition to the 2021 statewide Amish population numbers which came out two weeks ago, we now have the updated list of individual Amish settlements for 2021. There are around 600 of them. You’ll find it at the Elizabethtown College Young Center Amish Studies website here. This guide provides the following information for each Amish settlement: the county (or census division, for Canadian settlements) main town or geographical…