Monday, June 15, 2026 (continued)
After lunch with Erich, we became tourists to visit the Amish Village in Ronks, PA (Lancaster County).
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We first took the Amish Farmhouse (1805) tour, led by
an Englisher (what the Amish call the non-Amish) |
Jacob Amann believed that sinning resulting in excommunication should result in a more serious punishment (now known as “shunning”) than what the Mennonite community currently followed. Other issues also led to the schism (1693) between Mennonites and those who were called the Amish, but essentially they were all Anabaptists trying to return to a simplicity of faith and practice based on the Bible.
William Penn went to Europe in 1681 to actively recruit Anabaptists and Protestants to settle in Pennsylvania where they could worship freely. The Amish began arriving around 1720 due to persecution and lack of farmland.
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| The sitting room, where church services are held, rotating from home to home (Amish Village) |
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Rooster Head Gingerbread Mantle Clock
(c 1900, by Sessions) |
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Kitchen also has a Gingerbread Clock, and
lamps are fueled by kerosene... |
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| ...except this lamp fueled by propane (KSS) |
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| Servel-brand refrigerator fueled by propane (KSS) |
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| Sunbeam mixer modified to run on propane (KSS) |
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Gas stove for cooking and larger
wood-burning stove for heat |
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| A gasoline iron and treadle-powered Singer sewing machine |
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Rattan carpet beater, Bishop's wool coat, man's Sunday wool
coat, straw work hat, Sunday or winter wool hat, a battery-
powered head lamp, all backed by a wool carriage-blanket/shawl |
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Upstairs in the boys' room, a rope bed
covered by a snowball-pattern cotton quilt (KSS) |
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Man's Sunday jacket and pants with suspenders (no belts),
woman's Sunday dress, children's clothing (the skirt is attached
to the turquoise top with straight pins), a married woman's
blue and green dresses with black aprons, an unmarried
woman's dress with a white apron; it was explained that
the Amish did not like belt buckles and brass buttons that
reminded them of persecution by soldiers, but generally
they consider such things "worldly" and not plain enough |
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| Main bedroom rope bed with Garden Path quilt (KSS) |
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| Girls' room with Scrapaholic quilt |
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A Maytag washing machine powered by
a gasoline lawnmower engine (KSS) |
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| Butter churner |
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| Canning stove |
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| Air drying of clothing |
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Amish Farmhouse from the south side,
with additions as the family grows |
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Springhouse/milkhouse with pulley system,
to keep perishables cool |
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Oops, the young boy is hidden while his father points out
the location of food to us; instructions were to drop the
food into the pig's mouth and the pig obliged by holding
his mouth in position - too high for the boy to feed him! |
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| Miniature pony; Frizz may bite! |
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| A miniature Highland cow |
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| Waterwheel |
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Peacock and peahen, the Amish kept peacocks as
watchdogs who screeched at intruders |
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| Goats were looking for food handouts... |
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| ...rather than using their playground |
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| The Amish barn |
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| Family carriage has hydraulic brakes |
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| Windmill |
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| Freddie the Jersey steer |
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| Amish one-room schoolhouse |
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| The Amish go to school for grades 1-8 |
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| Utility carriage |
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| Blacksmith workshop |
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| Wooden wagon spoke maker |
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| Market Place selection of jams and jellies |
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| Village Store |
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| Open carriage or courting carriage |
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Covered bridges are roofed to protect the
wooden bridge so that it lasts longer |
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Amish church wagon carries the benches from house to
house because they rotate hosting Sundays among the families |
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Market wagon; in order to drive the horse
and buggies on public roads, the Amish are
required to show the slow-moving-vehicle
triangle, reflectors, a forward white light and
a rear red light or lantern, and 4-way flashers |
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Phone shanty that Amish families often share,
allowing them to have access to a telephone
without being dependent on outsiders |
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| Inside the phone shanty |
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A short distance from the Amish Village is Herr's Mill
(1803), former flour and gristmill, with a restored
1738 overshot waterwheel from an earlier mill |
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Pequea Creek next to the mill was where the
Herr's Mill Covered Bridge crossed, before it was
moved to Elizabethtown, PA at the Star Barn Complex |
