Amish History in Pennsylvania: How Faith and Farming Shaped Communities

• Asia Tabb
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Asia Tabb is the Host and Producer for WITF’s The Spark.
  
  She began her start in radio when she joined legendary radio/ host producer, Doc Christian. She worked closely with Doc for her role on “The Gospel Express, on WHOV 88.1 FM and was a host for “Unrestricted Praise” at Praise FM.
  
  Previously she was an anchor in Shreveport, Louisiana at KTAL/KMSS. Asia also worked as a Multi-Media Journalist at WHP-TV here in Harrisburg, PA.
  
  Asia got her break into news at KTVO in Ottumwa, Ia. While the 2020 caucuses were gearing up. Asia followed many candidates through their campaign trail from Senator Cory Booker, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and 46th President of the United States Joe Biden.
  
  Asia was born and raised in Norfolk, Va. She graduated from Old Dominion University in 2018 with a major in Communications.
  
  Asia is extremely friendly so don’t be afraid to say hi if you see her out and about.

 Scott R. Galvin / AP Photo

FILE PHOTO: Amish children play in the field outside a schoolhouse in Bergholz, Ohio on April 9, 2013.

AIRED; December 29, 2025

Listen to the podcast to hear the full conversation. 

Pennsylvania is home to some of the largest Amish communities in the world, but their roots in the state stretch back nearly three centuries. According to Steven M. Nolt, Ph.D., director of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, the first documented Amish families arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1730s, coming through the Port of Philadelphia. “They come in the 1730s up through really roughly the time of the American Revolution,” Nolt said, first settling in what is now Berks County before gradually moving south into Lancaster County by the early 1800s, drawn in part by farmland availability and cost.

Over time, Lancaster County became the center of Amish life in Pennsylvania, even as smaller communities persisted elsewhere. While many people think of the Amish as a single, uniform group, Nolt explained that the reality is far more complex. “The Amish are very much at the congregational end of the spectrum,” he said, noting that they are locally organized without centralized conferences or denominations. Scholars estimate there may be around 40 different Amish subgroups in the United States, each shaped by local customs and decisions.

This local organization also explains why Amish practices can vary widely, especially when it comes to technology. Nolt emphasized that the Amish approach is not about rejecting modern tools outright, but about protecting community life. “It’s not that technology is evil in the Amish view,” he said. Instead, technologies that encourage individual autonomy—such as personal car ownership—are often seen as a threat to communal values. Hiring drivers or sharing transportation, he explained, is a way to limit individual independence while remaining connected to others.

Decisions about technology and daily practices emerge through ongoing conversations within and between church districts, rather than through a single formal process. “It’s very much a local conversation and local decision,” Nolt said, adding that Amish communities also consider how their choices affect fellowship with neighboring districts. The result is a tradition rooted in shared faith and history, yet shaped by careful, community-based choices that continue to evolve in Pennsylvania today.