Several years back Amish in Illinois made news when they moved the state’s oldest-known Amish home using horsepower (that is, at least part of the way):

This was originally the home of an Amishman named Moses Yoder, and dates to 1865.

The Moses Yoder house is joined by a second historic home, the Daniel Schrock house (1882), as a focus of preservation efforts in the state’s largest Amish community.

The Illinois Amish Heritage Center‘s website notes that the Daniel Schrock house (pictured below) “has unusual two-story porches typical of Somerset County in Pennsylvania where Schrock immigrated from.”

The homes are a part of the Center’s efforts in establishing its new location (this was formerly the Illinois Amish Interpretive Center and has experienced a couple of moves). You can see the progress made with the restored homes in this panoramic shot:

Illinois Amish Center panorama view

Image: illinoisamish.org

They have a conceptual plan for the center on the website. Interestingly, a third, even older house, appears on this schematic: the “1850s Helmuth House”.

Image: illinoisamish.org

It looks like they’ve made some pretty good progress. More here.

Other Historic Amish Homes

In learning more about the Illinois preservation efforts, several other historic Amish homes came to mind. First is the Nicholas Stoltzfus homestead, which bears the name of the forefather of around one million living descendants, including the vast majority of Lancaster Amish.

A second, also in southeastern PA, is the Zook House, originally home of Moritz Zug. This home served as “a haven for Amish and Mennonite travelers who were migrating westward to Lancaster County and Ohio.”

I suppose we could also mention the site of the home of “White” Jonas Stutzman, the first Amish settler in Holmes County, Ohio. However, that log home I am fairly sure no longer exists. At the original site, on which is located a more recently-built Amish home, you’ll find a historic marker.

Are there other historic Amish homes out there that I’m missing?

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