More Than a Museum: The Amish Experience in Lancaster County

If you search online for an Amish museum in Lancaster County, you’ll find some good spots to visit.

But the word “museum” suggests you’d be seeing something from the past – artifacts behind glass, from a way of life that ended years ago. That’s not what you’ll find here!

The Amish people of Lancaster County aren’t a distant memory being kept alive. They’re a present-day community with a thriving culture. And that’s what separates an Amish experience in Lancaster County from a museum visit. You’re not learning about people who used to live here; you’re visiting a community that still does.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• How long Amish families have called Lancaster County home
• Why the Amish in Lancaster County are one of the fastest-growing communities in the country
• How Amish families adapt to modern life while keeping their longstanding values
• What an authentic Amish experience in PA actually looks like

Nearly 300 Years of Lancaster County Roots

Amish families have farmed Lancaster County soil since the 1700s, attracted to Pennsylvania by the promise of religious freedom and rich farmland. Those first families put down roots that have never been pulled up. And today, Lancaster County is home to the largest Amish settlement in the world.

Their story is alive everywhere you look – in the barns, the buggies on Route 340, the roadside stands, and the laundry lines strung across Amish yards.

It’s also visible in the farms themselves, many which have been passed down for several generations.

A Community That Keeps Growing

Researchers at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College track Amish population numbers every year. Their most recent estimate puts the Amish population in Lancaster County at roughly 45,500 people, which is up about 800 from the year before.

The Amish population nationwide roughly doubles every 20 years, thanks to large families and young people choosing to be baptized into the church as adults. New church districts form regularly to keep congregations at a size where neighbors still know one another well.

Adapting In a Modern World

Here’s what surprises most first-time visitors to the area: the Amish aren’t opposed to change – they’re just deliberate about it.

As Lancaster County farmland grew scarce and expensive, Amish families found new livelihoods.

Today you’ll find Amish-owned carpentry shops, furniture makers, greenhouses, quilt shops, and construction crews working throughout the region. In fact, many Amish families run successful small businesses.

The Amish’s use of technology follows the same pattern. A shop might run air-powered tools off a diesel generator. A family might share a phone shanty at the end of their lane. Each church district makes these decisions together, guided by its Ordnung – the shared understanding of how the community lives out its faith.

The question they ask isn’t “is this modern?” It’s “will this bring our families closer together, or pull them apart?” Every new modern invention gets considered that way.

Come Experience Amish Culture in Lancaster County

At The Amish Village in Ronks, you can walk through an authentic Amish farmhouse built in 1840 and see how a family actually lives in it – from the special kitchens to the bedrooms.

Our 12-acre property includes a one-room schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, a barn full of friendly animals, and a market stocked with Amish and locally made goods.

And our tour guides? Well, they’re amazing! Our team includes Amish and formerly Amish neighbors who can answer any question you’re curious about.

For a more in-depth Amish experience in PA, the 90-minute Backroads Bus Tour takes you off the main roads and past working farms, roadside produce stands, and schoolhouses at recess.

At The Amish Village, you’re not looking at museum history – you’re seeing a culture that’s still thriving today! Book your tour here.