The beautiful rolling landscape of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania dotted with working farms and horse carriages comes to mind when most people hear the phrase "Amish Country". After all, this location with its quirky town names and the unusual customs of its residents has been popularized by reality TV shows and movies such as Witness with Harrison Ford, Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth, and For Richer or Poorer starring Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley (funny movie by the way), but did you know that the country's highest concentration of the Amish population is in fact Ohio? Of course Pennsylvania is a very close runner up falling behind with less than 2,000, and although it is the state where most Amish and Mennonites immigrated to in the 1700's, it is not the only state where the Amish reside. In fact, rounding up the top five would be Indiana, followed by Wisconsin, and then New York. And while this culture appears to be predominantly centered in the East and Midwest, Amish communities have rooted themselves across the country in such states as Montana, Colorado and Texas, with a small population also in Canada, thus dispelling the myth that the Amish only reside in Pennsylvania.
And there you have it. Now go rent one of those great movies I mentioned!
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