Beyond the Horse and Buggy: Discovering the Hidden Charms of Plain City, Ohio’s Amish
The community’s shops and restaurants attract a lot of visitors. Yutzy’s Farm Market and the Cheese House are two examples.
Original tastes, creative comforts and new-found friendships will flavor your experience. This is a friendly, familiar American small town for a relaxing day trip or a week’s vacation.
Amish and Mennonite Communities
In Plain City and the surrounding countryside, visitors will see Amish families on their farmsteads and at local markets and shops. A visit is a great opportunity to learn about Amish culture and traditions, including one-room schooling, community service and socializing. Although the Amish differ on some aspects of religion, they all agree on two main points: complete obedience to their church and separating themselves from the outside world.
Amish are bi- and even tri-lingual; they speak a Low German dialect among themselves and High German for church services. They drive buggies and use a church wagon to transport the benches they use for their weekly church services, which alternate between members’ homes. Their children attend one-room schools until they are eight years old.
Although many Amish have religious objections to being photographed, they allow visitors to photograph their crafts and products. They also welcome visitors to visit their shops and restaurants, including the popular Der Dutchman Restaurant and Dutch Kitchen cooking school, Amish-owned furniture stores, cheese houses and farmers’ markets.
While the majority of Amish in Holmes County are Swartzentruber, significant numbers of Amish from other affiliations also live in the area. The Amish in Ashland and Medina Counties, for instance, follow stricter church rules, including an absolute ban on tobacco and automobiles for their youth. These residents use gray Slow Moving Vehicle triangles rather than orange, and they use white instead of black for their church wagons.
Businesses
As with any town, there are a variety of successful businesses that exist in Plain City. Among these are Jan And Tony’s, which has been around since 1991, and Pioneer Pizza, which is another well known pizza place that gets a lot of business. Another popular eatery is the Plain City Lanes, which offers bowling leagues and parties.
The town also has some smaller businesses, such as the Grainery, which is a music venue and restaurant that does a good amount of business in the summertime. There’s also the Red Hen, which serves breakfast and lunch meals. The newest addition is the Amish Door Village, which does triple duty by offering restaurants, lodging and shopping.
One of the biggest attractions is the annual Plain City Steam Threshers show, where you can see different types of steam engines and agricultural machinery in action. It’s a fun and educational experience for people of all ages, and it draws in large crowds of people from across the state.
Another popular attraction is Pastime Park, which has a number of events throughout the year and hosts many of the town’s big festivals. There are baseball and softball fields, sand volleyball courts, playgrounds and a public swimming pool that all get lots of use. The town is also home to the Plain City Performing Arts Center, which stages various shows throughout the year.
Tourist Attractions
Hundred-year-old covered bridges, remnants of tallgrass prairie and the occasional arrowhead unearthed from a farmer’s field are just part of what makes Plain City so unique. The town’s people still live on the land of their great-grandparents and enjoy the simple, homemade food of a time gone by.
There are a number of other places to visit in the Amish community. You can find shops that sell wood furniture (the Amish are fine craftsmen) such as Yoder Cabinets and Berlin Village Gift Barn. There are also many specialty food stores. Troyer’s Trail Bologna is one of the best known. You will also find plenty of homemade craft and antique stores.
While many of the restaurants in this area serve only non-alcoholic beverages, there are a number of wineries. The Ugly Bunny Winery, Sunny Slope Winery, Doughty Glen Winery and Swiss Heritage Wine Cellars are all worth a stop. Be sure to keep an eye out for the horse-drawn buggies when driving through the countryside. The Amish believe that a picture of themselves is a graven image and do not allow pictures in their homes or have them on the backs of their cars.
Things to Do
The village is known for its Amish culture and offers visitors a chance to step back in time to experience the way of life that has been largely unchanged for centuries. Guests can explore Amish farms, attractions and tours, shop for handmade crafts or chow down on authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine.
The Amish community is active in the local government, and residents are encouraged to become involved by serving on committees that focus on a variety of topics, from parks and recreation to zoning. The village council meets on the second and fourth Monday of every month. The public is welcome to attend and will be given two minutes per topic to address the council.
There are plenty of things to do in Plain City, from petting bristly pigs at a farm to relaxing with a glass of wine and acoustic music. The village is also home to a number of locally owned businesses, including Mark Troyer Builders, Yutzy Brothers Plumbing and Miller’s Furniture/Amish Wood Shop. Those looking to sew their own clothes will find everything they need at D&J Fabrics, while Coblentz Chocolates will satisfy the sweet tooth of any visitor.
The median household income in Plain City is $73,351 and the average individual income is $48,402. Most residents of this village are homeowners with only 23% renting their homes.
