Trading Buggies for Boats: Inside Newport’s Newest Amish Market
Yoder’s Heritage Market
142 Thames Street, Newport, RI 02840
Amidst the upscale boutiques, oyster bars, and sailing outfitters of Thames Street, a distinctly different aroma is wafting through the salty Newport air: browned butter, cinnamon, and freshly baked yeast dough. Yoder’s Heritage Market has officially opened its doors, bringing the analog craftsmanship of Pennsylvania Dutch country to the heart of the Ocean State.
The Backstory: A Bridge Between Two Worlds
The journey from the rolling farmland of Lancaster County to the cobblestones of Newport wasn’t a direct one. Amos and Sarah Yoder, seventh-generation Amish farmers and bakers, never intended to open a coastal storefront. The seed was planted three years ago when their “English” (non-Amish) nephew, David, moved to Rhode Island to study architecture.
Whenever David visited home, he would bring coolers full of his aunt’s raw-milk cheeses, scratch-made pies, and cured meats back to Newport. His friends and professors quickly became obsessed, placing informal “orders” ahead of every visit. Realizing the intense local appetite for unpretentious, preservative-free heritage foods, David proposed a partnership.
Today, David manages the Thames Street storefront, seamlessly bridging the gap between modern retail and traditional production. Meanwhile, Amos, Sarah, and their community in Pennsylvania handle the farming and baking, sending a specialized, climate-controlled truck up Interstate 95 twice a week. The result is a market that feels completely authentic, bypassing mass-production for goods that are genuinely made by hand, off the grid.
Market Favorites: What to Buy
The market is tightly curated. You won’t find aisles of commercial souvenirs; instead, the shelves are stocked with high-quality, small-batch provisions. Here are the items already drawing lines out the door:
- Sea Salt Shoo-Fly Pie: Sarah Yoder adapted her great-grandmother’s famous molasses crumb pie specifically for the new location. She finishes the sticky, rich filling with a light dusting of flaky sea salt, perfectly cutting the sweetness and nodding to their new coastal home.
- Cave-Aged Raw Milk Sharp Cheddar: Hand-pressed and aged for 18 months, this cheese has the crystalline crunch and deep, grassy funk that only comes from pasture-raised cows and traditional aging methods.
- Heirloom Tomato Bacon Jam: A savory, sweet, and smoky spread made from summer tomatoes grown on the Yoder farm and heavily smoked bacon. It is rapidly becoming the secret weapon for Newport locals hosting weekend charcuterie boards.
- Amish Roll Butter: Churned in small batches until it reaches an incredible 85% butterfat content. It has a vibrant yellow color and a rich, cultured tang that ruins you for standard grocery store butter.
- Hand-Spun Sourdough Pretzels: Thick, chewy, and deeply browned from a traditional lye dip, these pretzels are delivered fresh on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. They sell out by noon, especially when paired with the market’s sweet hot mustard.
Whether you’re packing a picnic for a day at Easton’s Beach or looking for a handcrafted quilt to warm up a drafty historic home, Yoder’s Heritage Market offers a quiet, delicious reminder that some things are still worth doing the hard way.