Mississippi is not exactly the first state that comes to mind when thinking about the Amish. And for most of the Amish history in the United States, Mississippi had no Amish presence. But around 1995, some Amish arrived to land outside the town of Pontotoc, which is the far northeast part of the state. The Amish around Pontotoc arrived from the community of Ethridge, some 90 minutes to the north by car.
🌞 Challenges To Settling in Mississippi
The South in general has been slow in attracting Amish settlers. There are a variety of reasons for this, but here are some of the biggest challenges:
Heat: Mississippi is the Deep South and summers are dripping with heat and humidity. The Amish generally don't use electricity, so without air-conditioning, a Mississippi summer becomes and oven. This keeps many Amish away.
Crop Difficulty: Only certain kind of crops thrive in the Mississippi heat, some of these - like cotton - are ones that the Amish don't have a lot of experience with, so farming is a challenge for the Amish in Mississippi.
Distance: Mississippi is far from Amish communities elsewhere, so it can be a challenge attracting new people to the area.
📋 What Kind of Amish Community?
The Pontotoc Amish community is part of the ultra-conservative Swartzentruber Amish sect. The Swartzentruber Amish are known for rejecting most technology and you definitely won't find cameras in this community. Some aspects of Swartzentruber Amish:
- collect rainwater for washing clothes
- absolutely no photographs
- no electricity
- Swartzentruber Amish reject the orange triangle safety emblem on their buggies.
🥜 Southern Amish Food
The Mississippi Amish have adopted many of the southern food flavors popular in the area. Some of the popular foods in the Amish community include:
- Okra
- Collard Greens
- Catfish
- Hush puppies
- Peanuts
🚜 Other Mississippi Plain People
There are no Beachy Amish Mennonite churches in the state as of this writing. But there is Old German Baptist Brethren Church in the town of Hot Coffee, Mississippi. There had been a handful of families, but as of this writing it was down to one, the Diehl family. They are farmers and entrepreneurs, who don't use electricity and travel by
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