We count on Carolina Tours to take us to nifty places around the state and beyond.  This trip is a visit to Holmes County, Ohio – home of the largest Amish settlement in the United States.  The Amish are a traditionalist Christian church group descended from the 16th century fellowship known as the Swiss Brethren.  The Swiss Brethren were Anabaptists, meaning "one who baptizes again"—a reference to those who had been baptized as infants, but later adopted a belief in "believer's baptism", and then let themselves again be baptized as adults. 

The term Amish was first used as a term of disgrace by opponents of Jakob Amman, who led the Amish in one of the first divisions within the Swiss Brethren.  Another split was led by Menno Simons; that group became known as the Mennonites.  Both are known for simple living, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology. 

Amish and Mennonites began migrating to Pennsylvania, then known for its religious toleration.  This migration was a reaction to religious wars, poverty, and religious persecution in Europe.  Many settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, while other groups settled in Indiana and Ohio. 

As time has passed, the Amish way of life has increasingly diverged from that of modern society, and the Amish people have felt many pressures from beyond their world. Issues such as taxation, education, law and its enforcement are areas of difficulty. For example, the Amish are subject to sales and property taxes, but they do not agree with the idea of Social Security benefits and have a religious objection to insurance. 

To add to the confusion, the Amish churches have divided many times over doctrinal disputes. The largest group, the "Old Order" Amish, a conservative faction that separated from other Amish in the 1860s, are those that have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs.  Holmes County, Ohio has the largest community of Old Order Amish in the United States and we spent most of our visit with these folks.

Sugarcreek was our home base for our visit to Holmes County and surrounding area.  It is known as the Little Switzerland of Ohio; it traces its history to 1882 when both Amish and Swiss settlers arrived.  We stayed on the outskirts of town, at the Carlisle Inn, a lovely hotel with tulips in full bloom.  We did venture into town to see the World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock, which puts on quite a show with its dancers and ompah band.

 

The Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center is located in Berlin, Ohio, the oldest existing village in Holmes County - in the heart of Amish country.  The Center was established in 1981 as an information center and later expanded to house the Behalt Cyclorama. 

Behalt, meaning “to keep" or "to remember,” is a 10 X 265 feet cyclorama, or mural-in-the-round.  It illustrates the heritage of the Amish and Mennonite people from their Anabaptist beginnings in Zürich, Switzerland in 1525 to the present day. The mural depicts the first documented adult baptisms in modern times in Zürich in 1525 and continues to follow the spread of the Anabaptist movement throughout the world. From this movement sprang the Brethren, Mennonites, Amish and Hutterite people. Today the Anabaptist family of believers numbers more than 1.6 million living in 80 countries. The Behalt cyclorama is the work of one artist—from original research and conception to charcoal sketches and final oils-on-canvas production of this historic masterpiece. 

The strong Swiss and German heritage of this area is reflected in the making of fine wine and cheese.  In the village of Sugarcreek, the Swiss Heritage Winery has recently merged with the Broad Run Cheese House, making a perfect combination for wine and cheese lovers.   We watched a bit of cheese-making and enjoyed sampling the finished product along with a glass of Hans’ favorite sangria.

Another local cheesemaker is Heini’s Cheese Chalet, known for its multiple varieties of cheese.  It’s not enough to be Swiss and make Swiss cheese – these folks have hundreds of different kinds of cheese and plenty of samples for tasting.  Heini’s Cheese Chalet is another one of many cheese-makers in this part of the country, continuing an art carried to this country with the first Swiss and German immigrants.  The business has been family-owned and operated from this location since 1935, making over thirty-five varieties of cheese.  There’s plenty of Swiss cheese, but how about butter cheese or yogurt cheese – we watched some cheese being made and tasted lots of delicious things – and found some to bring home, too. 

 

The milk for all this cheese-making comes from local Amish farmers.  Most of the Amish live on farms, not in the towns and villages, and it seems that everyone has a herd of dairy cows to provide milk for their family and to the cheesemakers. Riding through the Amish countryside is a bit like riding through a picture books of beautiful, well-kept farms. 

In the midst of every cluster of farms, it’s not hard to find the community’s one-room school house.  The Amish do not usually educate their children past the eighth grade, believing that the basic knowledge offered up to that point is sufficient to prepare one for the Amish lifestyle. They feel that education is only necessary to the point of being a good farmer, good wife, mother or housekeeper.  Almost no Amish go to high school or college. Most communities operate their own schools, with teachers (usually young unmarried women) from the Amish community. 



Other small buildings appear now and then, usually at the end of a lane leading to a farmhouse.  They look like outhouses with solar panels, but it turns out they are telephone booths!  The bishop has ruled that Amish folks may not have have a telephone in their homes, but ... it's okay to have one at a safe distance from the house.  The phones are usually shared among neighbors, with everyone paying his/her share of the bill.  (FYI - the solar panel is to power the answering machine.)  

The Amish are productive and thrifty farmers, who use very little mechanized equipment – and then only if one uses a horse or mule to pull it or push it.  Farmers often lend each other equipment until a farmer can afford to buy his own; they don’t do much borrowing of money.   The basic crops are hay, wheat, barley, rye, and corn.  In addition to dairy cows, most raise some other animals for meat (chicken, pork).  Of course, every Amish farm also has a large garden from which to feed the family.  Many will plant extra to be able to sell to outsiders, either at roadside stands or at market. 

Mid-April in Ohio means it’s time to break ground and prepare for spring planting.  We saw a few farmers harvesting winter wheat, but most were busy with plowing fields for new crops.  What we did not see on Amish farms were tractors and other farm machinery; most of these folks do their work the same way their parents and grandparents did it – with a hand-held plow pulled by one to four horses.   

 

At one farm we visited, we had the chance to watch the farmer bring his team down from the barn, hook them up and get to work breaking ground.  He never rushed, never seemed frustrated, and never stopped working.  It may look pretty and romantic, but it’s clearly hard, hard work.

Power on the farm comes from water wheels, windmills, and occasional diesel engines, and generators.  For transportation, the Amish use horses and buggies.  Buggies today look the same as buggies of fifty years ago – no need to change something that works as intended.  Amish buggies do come in a variety of types, the most common being the market wagon, the family buggy and the courting buggy.  The market wagon as a hatch-back type of opening and is used for hauling things.  The family wagon looks much the same except that it will have windows, at least one at the back.  The courting buggy has just one seat for two people, but all in the open.  The whole world will be your chaperone on a date!   All buggies must have a warning triangle symbol on the back, as well as lights for night time driving. 

 

 

 

Driving buggies requires some thought be given to parking – at home and at one’s destination.  Every farm has some sort of shelter for buggies, and every town is dotted with shelters for horses as well.  These are usually at one edge of the auto parking lot; even the local Walmart has built shelters for its Amish customers.  

 

 

 Amish farms average about 70 acres in size – that’s as big as they can manage using traditional methods.  This size limitation also means that an average Amish family (with 6 to 8 children) cannot support itself solely by farming.  Though their lives are simple and they are very frugal, many Amish people have jobs beyond the farm.  We saw them working as store clerks, cooks and servers in restaurants, and in all manner of industries and commercial outlets.  Women with children can’t venture far beyond home, and this reality has led to a remarkable array of home-based cottage industries, several of which we visited.  (Just remember that they don’t have electricity or phones so you can’t pay with a credit card.) 

Broom-making:  Every home needs a broom (or two) and lots of visitors recognize the quality workmanship in these old-fashioned, handmade corn straw brooms.  This woman makes brooms in one side of her shop and has an Amish-style convenience store in the other side.  This made for a fun visit – lots of locals coming and going while we learned all about brooms.

Candle-making:  If you live without electricity, chances are you need a candle or two.  And so, this lady entrepreneur makes candles that the locals need as well as fancy candles that the tourists love.  She even showed us how to decorate our own muffin candles – shaped like a cupcake with fluffy icing on top. 

Candy-making:  Amish food may be plain and simple, but these folks do like their sweets – as do visitors from far and near.  We visited a farm where Lydia Troyer has an older woman has set up a candy “factory” in a spare room in basement of her house.  She and her niece helped us make buckeyes (peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate); they were tasty enough, but we’re hooked on the crunchy cashew butter puffs.

 

We also got to meet the farm’s newest residents – four tiny kittens whose mama thought the garden watering can was a perfect place to have her babies.  It won’t be long before they outgrow this home, but their humans have a nice place ready when the mama cat decides to move.

 

Quilt-making:  Anything made of fabric in an Amish home is likely to be hand-made – that includes all clothing as well as the quilts which the Amish use for practical purposes (like keeping warm in winter) and the tourists buy just because they are so beautiful.

 

 

 

Furniture-making is another industry for which the Amish have gained wide recognition for simple, sturdy and beautiful handmade products.  This is often a family business, with parents and children involved, but there are also larger furniture factories that employ these craftsmen to turn, bend, stain, and carve local hardwoods to create beautiful furniture.

The Amish people are quite self-sufficient, but even they need to purchase some things that they can’t make themselves.  For example, there are grocery stores that cater to the Amish – these usually sell products in bulk packaging for lower prices or for sharing among families and neighbors. 

Lehman's General Store and Old-Fashioned Hardware opened in 1955 to serve the Amish with practical, non-electric tools, appliances and home goods.  Originally specializing in products used by the Amish community, it has become known worldwide as a source for non-electric goods. The 35,000-square-foot facility bills itself as a "Low Tech Superstore" and a "Purveyor of Historical Technology," both of which are reflected in its motto, "Simple Products for a Simpler Life." The quarter-mile-long structure is made up of the remnants of a log cabin and three pre-Civil War buildings, including a hand-hewn barn. 

The store did a modest business, with a mild boost from tourism, until the 1973 oil crisis. As domestic supplies of oil began to dwindle, people began to look for low-tech equipment to help them deal with the shortages. According to Jay Lehman, the oil embargo put them on the map.  The oil crisis secured the store's reputation, with each new disaster or potential disaster (Year 2000 fears, the 9-11 attack, and the northeast blackout of 2003) bringing in new customers.  The result has been a marked shift in the demographic makeup of Lehman's customers. In the early years, the Amish community accounted for 95 percent of Lehman's sales. Now it makes up less than 10 percent – as evidenced by the abundance of junky gadgets aimed at the tourist trade.  

 

 


We enjoyed a special exhibit of three-dimensional woodcarving done by Paul Weaver, a local Amish man.  He is a furniture-maker by trade, but does a bit of carving in the wintertime.  A fun place to visit.  

 

 

The Village of Millersburg came to life in 1815 when early settlers first platted the town.  Five years later there were enough children for the townspeople to build a schoolhouse.  Then, in 1824, Millersburg became the seat of Holmes County, and more growth occurred as word spread about the hilly countryside and Amish farms nearby.    The local historical society has restored a beautiful Victorian Mansion – a 28-room Queen Anne style home built by L.H. Brightman, a wealthy industrialist from Cleveland.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features a rare and wonderful picture made of human hair.

 

Next door is the Millersburg Glass Museum, home to displays and exhibits that describe the history of the local glass plant, its workers and owner, John Fenton.  Beyond that, there is a chronological arrangement of the glasswork created from within the factory and its kilns.  Apparently, these are masterpieces, works of art cherished by collectors worldwide. Who knew? 

 

Near the village of Millersburg is Hershberger’s Farm and Bakery.  This definitely is not your average bakery, although there is a dazzling selection of baked goods, like fry pies, apple fritters, muffins, and homemade bread. 

The store carries a wide assortment of canned goods and homegrown produce and a huge assortment of flowers, but we did notice that the strawberries came from South Carolina!   There’s also an antique farm store, featuring USA-made wooden toys, tack, bird seed, leather goods and more.  Outside there’s a petting zoo with a variety of farm animals and an open fire for making kettle-corn.  

 

 

There’s plenty to see and do, but we particularly enjoyed watching the horses play, train and work. 

 

Feeding tourists and/or tourists feeding animals is yet another way for the Amish to bring in dollars to supplement their farm income.  We visited one such enterprise, the Farm at Walnut Creek.  This is a working farm spread over 120 acres of rolling hills in eastern Holmes County.  The Farm is home to over 500 animals including dozens of exotics, which visitors can feed while taking a horse-drawn wagon ride.  Some of these (deer, elk, llama) are raised as alternate livestock and sold locally at auction.  Most of the animals roam freely, but a wagonload of tourists bearing food buckets draws quite a crowd. 

 

 

 

There’s plenty to explore, whether by wagon or on foot: blacksmith shop, horse barn, equipment shed, dairy barn, cattle shed, milk house, and chicken house.  We had lunch in the main farmhouse, with food prepared by women who work on or around the farm.  Since there’s no electricity and no air conditioning, we had our meal in the summer kitchen in the basement.  Here, too, is the wringer washer and lots of shelves for storing canned food. 

 

Upstairs is the winter kitchen, a large sewing/quilting room and plenty of plain and simple bedrooms for the family. 

 

We had a second home-hosted mean at the home of Anna and Joe Erb, who invited us to experience an Amish wedding feast.  The Erbs have four daughters, three of whom helped with the meal preparation and serving.  Their home is quite large, but they also have a second building for hosting large gatherings.

 

The room was set just like a wedding had taken place.  At the main table, the bride and groom were seated, along with two other couples who serve as the witness couples.  The rest of us sat at long tables and were served family style.

In western culture, weddings are an elaborate ceremony, and receptions are often even more elaborate.   Amish culture, on the other hand, dictates that all weddings are basically the same three-hour service, followed by a meal that features pretty much the same simple foods that folks eat day in and day out.  The bride does have some leeway in choosing her favorites to be served. 

We started out with cole slaw and homemade bread – with homemade butter and peanut butter whip that made you think we were starting with dessert.  Then came the mashed potatoes loaded with more butter, buttered noodles, home-grown green beans, chicken and pot roast.  For dessert, we had datenut pudding, wedding cake and ice cream.  Nobody went away hungry. 

Cooking for a crowd without electricity? It is a team effort.  With large groups, guests may be served in shifts, so teams of dishwashers and other helpers assist the cook in serving the guests.  Many hands make light work – and these folks made it look easy!

Amish tradition previously dictated that weddings could occur only on Tuesdays and Thursdays in November.  Farmers can ill-afford to relinquish a day during harvesting season to celebrate weddings.  Nowadays, due to the number of couples getting married, weddings may take place throughout the fall, winter, and spring.  Still, they do not occur in summer to avoid interfering with agricultural production, the key to the Amish’s livelihood. 

The town of Dover is a booming metropolis (population 12,000) compared to most of the places we have visited.  It was first settled in 1807, but it is best known today for its favorite native son, master woodcarver Ernest "Mooney" Warther.  Born in 1885, Warther would become a legend, a small-town icon, and a world-renowned master carver.  Carving was just a hobby for Mooney, while he made a living handcrafting fine kitchen cutlery.  His knife company started in 1902 and has been making kitchen knives ever since – this enterprise is still the family’s main source of income.

 

The Warther Museum and Gardens are built around the original location of Ernest and Frieda's home and Mooney’s old workshop,  The Museum showcases his ebony, ivory, and walnut hand-carved masterpieces, as well as his brother’s 5,500 piece Native American arrowhead collection, and his wife’s 73,000 piece button collection and her Swiss-style gardens.

 

 

 

 

Heading home …

Raven’s Glenn Winery was started by Italian immigrants in the early 1900s.  With only pennies in their pockets and a willingness to work hard, they began a family tradition of good wine and good food.  As we headed home from Amish country, we stopped here for a little wine-tasting and lunch.  

Tamarack, in Beckley, West Virginia, houses The Best of West Virginia - it is said to be the nation’s first showcase of handcrafts, fine art and regional cuisine. It comprises a retail store, working studios for resident artisans, a fine art gallery, a theater, A Taste of West Virginia food court, and a conference center.  Tamarack is widely recognized for all aspects of promoting West Virginia arts, crafts, food products, and those who produce or perform them.

 

The Snappy Lunch in Mt. Airy, NC, is the home of the world Famous Pork Chop Sandwich and the place where Andy Griffith and his sidekick Barney would grab a bite to eat on TV’s Andy Griffith Show.  The whole town is still a magnet for Mayberry fans from all over.