I think we can include the classic Amish kick scooter as one of those icons of the Amish, along with the horse-and-buggy, hand-stitched quilt, straw hat, and so on. Even though many Amish don’t really use scooters (e.g. Amish in a lot of Midwestern communities), they are closely connected with the Amish in Lancaster County, where they’re visible everywhere. And with Lancaster Amish the most…
Don Burke has been on a tour of Amish settlements in the South and Midwest. These are his photos and account of the small community at Salem, Arkansas (Fulton County), one of only two Amish settlements in the Natural State. You can view more photos at Don’s Arkansas Amish Flickr album. — Nestled in the Ozarks of north-central Arkansas, within a dozen miles of the Missouri state line,…
To hopefully close the book on an awful story, the Lancaster County man who shot and killed an Amish-owned horse has been given 1-2 years in prison, plus probation (hat tip to commenter City Slicker): According to testimony at Diggs’ March preliminary hearing, Diggs was a passenger in his own car when the horse was shot last Nov. 24 in East Lampeter Township. Horse owner Levi Lapp was driving…
Not a lot of information to this article, but I think it’s worth passing along anyway. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, two Amish families from Ontario recently spent time searching for a new home on Canada’s Prince Edward Island: Anthony Wallbank is a friend of several members of Ontario’s Amish community, and drove some of them to the Island to look at farm properties….
We’ve looked at Amish participation in Pennsylvania fire companies before. And each year mud sales are held throughout Lancaster County to support those companies, which are known for their heavy Amish makeup. But did you know that some Amish in New York also serve as volunteer firemen? According to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Amish are members of two fire companies in western New York, in Ovid and…
My first Amish trip of 2014 happened last week. I made a short visit to one of only two Amish communities in North Carolina, the Union Grove settlement. (Note: see update at end of post for the latest on NC Amish). The Union Grove community includes both Union Grove and Hamptonville addresses (Iredell and Yadkin counties). This is the western part of the state, about…
“Gambling goes against the teaching of the Bible,” Bishop Schwartz said, “and the fruits of gambling are all bad.” “Bishop Schwartz” is 43-year-old Daniel Schwartz, who sat down with the New York Times to discuss plans for a casino in his western NY community. We first heard about this back in May, when over a dozen Amish appeared in court to protest against the proposed $350 million investment….
“Maybe one each season says ‘don’t take any pictures’”. That’s friend of the blog Katie Troyer answering a question she’s no doubt heard before. You can see Katie and hear her discuss her passion in a new video (below). You may have enjoyed Katie’s photos at various places on the web (and even offline – I have a calendar featuring her work on my wall at home)….
Earlier this year Tom Geist shared his visits to Amish communities in Plains States, including Chouteau, Oklahoma, Hutchinson County, South Dakota, four Nebraska communities, and Yoder, Kansas. The Amish have a scattered presence across the Great Plains, which you can see in this map taken from a directory dedicated to those states (photo by Janar S). Today Tom gives us a look at another Kansas…
Ernest Bontrager has a clip of still images taken in the Amish settlement at Monte Vista, Colorado (Rio Grande and Conejos counties). It’s not a new video (2010), but is a nice look at the type of sights you might see in a western Amish settlement. I haven’t visited Amish further west than Iowa, so I like these looks at communities in the Mountain Time Zone….