For a number of years, Amish communities were confined in Kansas to a cluster around Hutchinson and around the town of Garnett. But over the past decade or so, more Amish settlements have taken root in the Sunflower State.
✅ Why The Amish Might Like Kansas?
Kansas is a natural fit for the Amish in many ways. It is a good "fill in" state, as the Amish population has taken off in Colorado to the west and is robust in Missouri to the east, Kansas makes sense. Other reasons:
Climate: Yes, it can roast in the summer, and deep freeze in the winter, and there are tornadoes, but generally the climate is the temperate kind that the Amish favor.
Plentiful land: The is a lot of room to spread out, not many big cities to contend with.
Flat: Perfect roads for the horses pulling buggies since most of Kansas is pancake flat. And Amish who ride bicycles here, well, no hills .
🌻 Kansas Amish Communities
Central Kansas is home to a a patchwork of Plain communities ranging from the more progressive Beachy Amish Mennonites to more conservative horse and buggy groups. The Amish communities are clustered in a crescent shape around the city of Hutchinson which serves as the area's commercial hub. The best known of these Amish churches is around the aptly named town of Yoder, perched along Highway 96 between Hutchinson and the metropolitan city of Wichita. But the Partridge community southwest of Hutchinson also is home to a horse and buggy church - sort of. Here is a run-down of where the Kansas Amish live:
Patridge: The horse and buggies are mainly used on Sundays for church and perhaps for a leisurely ride in the country. Everyday errands are more often done in tractors. Women, teenagers, and men pilot these massive monsters as they rumble down the roads. It's almost surreal at times to be jockeying for position on the roads among these tractors, but it's a technological compromise that works for them. The whole premise of Amish life is staying close to church and community and the thinking is that one can only go so far in a tractor (although one Amish man told of a youngster who took one of these 180 miles to visit Amish friends in eastern Kansas).
Other aspects of the Partridge settlement take on a more traditional Amish flavor: home-based businesses, a strong sense of community, and monochromatic clothing fluttering on the lines. A constant wind seems to blow across the wide open Kansas prairie. Families plant tree lines to serve as wind breaks. Unlike many Amish communities where farming has lost its economic viability, many here still do farm. But a withering drought has been choking Central Kansas for a couple of years now making it an increasingly precarious way to make a living
Yoder: Founded in the late 1800s, Yoder was considered to be the largest Amish settlement in Kansas and the farthest west of the main Amish communities, but now there are plenty of Amish in the Rocky Mountain states and there are larger Amish settlements elsewhere in Kansas.
The area's Amish roots are celebrated with Yoder Heritage Day, held every year on the fourth Saturday in August. The free, family-friendly event celebrates the town's Amish and Mennonite heritage and includes a variety of activities:
- Morning: Pancake breakfast at 6 AM
- Daytime: Horse-drawn events, buggy races, parade, tractor pulls, quilt auction, live music, petting zoo, food stands, and more
- Evening: Concert and fireworks display at 10:30 PM
Other events hosted by the Yoder Amish Community throughout the year include the Parade of Quilts, Farmers Market, Turkey Dinner, and Christmas Open House.
Garnett: This is another old Amish settlement, kind of near the town of Ottawa, Kansas. Like the Amish around Hutchinson, this group is more progressive, using tractors and some mechanized equipment.
Chetopa: A bustling Amish community west of Chetopa, with a variety of Amish home-based businesses.
Hartford: This Amish settlement is near Emporia and has quickly grown with church members coming from Ohio and Kentucky, drawn to the area by the cheap and plentiful land.
Thayer
Lyndon
Dennis
📋 Other "Plain" Churches in Kansas
Spread throughout the state are other "Plain" churches that are similar to the Amish, a few of their communities are:
Garnett: There is a thriving Old German Baptist Brethren community here that live alongside the Amish. The Old German Baptist Brethen dress plainly and share similarities to the Amish, but come from a different theological background.
Quinter: Home to another Old German Baptist Brethren Church.
Arlington: Beachy Amish-Mennonite Church.
🏪 Amish Businesses in Kansas
This list is nowhere close to comprehensive. These are businesses myself or Amish365.com readers can vouch for or have experience with, if there's a Kansas Amish business you think should be added, let us know and we'll add it!
Chetopa: Country Shoe Shop: 620-226-3614
Chetopa: Meadowlark Greenhouse: 660-226-3567
Chetopa: Beachy Country Store, 6052 Udall Rd, Chetopa, KS 67336
Garnett: Yoder's Country Store, 22800 NW 1700th Rd ,
Haven: R & E Country Store, 12304 Obee Rd
Partridge: The Potluck, 12205 W. Illinois Ave, produce
Yoder: Yoder Market - 9804 Main St
Yoder: Yoder Discount Market, 3518 E Red Rock Rd
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