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….
A recent news item looks at a new Colorado Amish furniture and variety store which has opened in Fremont County (central CO). Partners Joe Nissley and Paul Schmucker of the P & J Hitching Post have sourced all their goods to Amish producers, with furniture, quilts, and “denim-works” coming from both local and Midwestern sources. They’re also doing food, with bread, cookies and baked goods, plus…
I got a kick out of this story, about a Colorado resident who hired a Lancaster Amish crew to travel 1,700 miles to build a fence. No doubt Colorado being the destination had something to do with their willingness to go. A less picturesque part of America may not have enticed the crew. Â As a largely Midwest and Eastern people with a soft spot for…
The handful of Amish settlements found in Colorado are part of a general trend of westward Amish migration.  Amish have relocated in Colorado for economic reasons, with land in the Centennial State being much cheaper than acreage back East. Amish migrants to the Centennial State have set up numerous small businesses, among them woodworking shops. The lure of adventure has probably also played a role.  “There…
A nice article came out over the weekend in the Denver Post on new Colorado Amish settlements.  This group has received  a lot of attention lately, especially in the context of Amish migration.  Writer Ann Schrader includes some interesting information on how Amish have adapted to the local economy. The land is not as conducive to farming as acreage in some Amish communities in the…
Migration to previously-unsettled areas has been a story of significance for Amish in recent years.  Migration is not a new phenomenon, as Amish have long moved to new areas for reasons of economics, due to church issues, or for other causes. Places that have seen a recent influx of Amish include Missouri, Wisconsin, and New York–all states that have established Amish populations. Recent years have…
This AP story about Amish in Colorado (no longer online) describes the experience of Amish families who’ve headed west for lower-priced land. The few hundred who have settled in Colorado are still a tiny portion of the total Amish population. Amish have settled new areas for a variety of reasons, including land prices. With Colorado averaging $1400 per acre versus $6000 in Pennsylvania, the westward…
An AP story has just hit the wire on population growth among the Amish. This coincides with the release of additional information on trends in Amish growth and migration from here at the Young Center. The Amish studies site now lists trend data for the 1992 to 2008 period as well as the 2007 to 2008 one-year trend. The most surprising statistic: according to the…
Typhoid fever and bad ‘plumbing’ did this bunch in. David Luthy, Amish convert and historian, explains in his Settlements that Failed that the Amish settlement at Ordway, Colorado started off promisingly enough in 1910. The area had been heavily promoted by a realty company for settlement, and proved attractive enough for some families to move there.  A town named Dayton was meant to arise in…