This photo by Brad Wieland captures what appears to be a rollerblade race between school-age Amish boys. By the clothing and the presence of rollerblades (aka inline skates), we can be pretty sure that this is Lancaster County (no location was provided with the photo). Update: My guess was wrong! Photographer Brad Wieland has checked in to explain this is actually in Allen County, Indiana….
Today’s Amish home comes from a little Swiss Amish community up in the northeast corner of Indiana. The Hoosier State is known for its Swiss Amish population, as it’s home to the two largest, at Adams County (Berne) and Allen County (Grabill). This Swiss settlement at Hamilton (Steuben County) has been there for over half a century (1964) but is just a single church district…
Grounded Upon God’s Word: The Life and Labors of Jakob Ammann is a new book by co-authors Andrew V. Ste. Marie and Mike Atnip. Ammann was the early leader of the Amish, for whom the group is named. For many years, little was known about Ammann, though in recent decades fresh research has revealed more about Ammann’s personal life beyond the schism which created the…
In the latest edition of the Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC) we find an article by Henry Troyer titled “Change and Continuity in Amish Wedding Dates in the Holmes County, Ohio, Settlement“. I found several interesting facts in Troyer’s piece I’d like to share with you, concerning Holmes County wedding customs. Let’s start with the main point of the paper: 1. Over the past 100…
The Walker Valley Market in the Pearisburg, VA community is one of the nicest Amish food-and-more stores I’ve visited. I was here once before, about a year ago, but only shared quick photos of the front of the store and a couple of food items. A reader named Shawn also visited this place which featured in a 2016 post. I had a chance to make…
This week we drop in on Dunn County, Wisconsin with, I believe, the highest-priced property we’ve seen so far in this ongoing series. This one has some great photos both from the outside and inside. You can really tell a difference with photos taken with a better camera and good angles. A reader brought this one to my attention a couple days ago. This one…
Up to 90% of Lancaster County Plain families have had at least one family member infected with COVID-19, according to a local health center administrator. From Lancaster Online: Late last spring a COVID-19 wave tore through the Plain community when they resumed church services, infecting an untold number of Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster County. The administrator of a medical center in the heart of…
The Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC) has just released its second issue (Volume 1, Issue 2). We previously covered the release of the inaugural issue, and an article from that edition by Mark Louden on language and Plain health care. The Journal is sponsored by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, and the Amish & Mennonite Heritage…
David Marvitz, who took the ice harvest photos we saw here last month, recently shared how he got permission to photograph Amish in Hazleton, Iowa. More on that below. I was also in touch with David after that post went up. He passed along another nice set of photos, this time of a young Amish fellow training a Belgian breed horse. First, on how he…
Do the Amish live in Ireland? There are no Old Order Amish communities in Ireland, but Beachy Amish do live there. The question is revisited today by irishcentral.com in an article titled “Did you know Ireland has an Amish community?” The Christian Fellowship of Dunmore East, Co. Waterford is Ireland’s only Amish-Mennonite community. It was founded in 1992 by William McGrath, an Irish American who…