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More about the Arthur Amish Settlement
Arthur Amish Business and Occupations
Many of the Arthur Amish families are farmers to some degree. With the large families, over the years the need for room for more families and with many children to divide a farm among, the Amish farms tend to be small... less than 80 acres. Many Amish families live on just a few (5-10) acres, with enough space for a little livestock or a pasture for their horse(s), and a large garden that may produce extra items to sell.
Many young Amish families, without enough land to farm, work out in local "country shops." These numerous Amish owned shops make items in many varied categories, from steel and metal work, to buggy shops, wood component shops and finished furniture and cabinet shops. Most of the "country shops" are not really open to the casual visitor. If you are interested in doing business with them, however, they welcome you. A few of the shops are set up to deal with customers in a retail mode. If they are interested in you stopping, they will have a sign outside indicating the nature of their business.
The Arthur Amish are well known for their quality woodwork in cabinetry and furniture. This industry supports many Amish families from the rough mill work shops, to subcomponent producing shops to the finished assembly shops. Most of the wood shops sell on a wholesale basis to other stores and as such are not really open to visitors. A few are, and many have their work for sale in local "in-town" showrooms such as The Wood Loft, in downtown Arthur. These showrooms allow you to virtually buy direct, while providing the conveniences of telephones, faxes and internet communication not available in the country.
A new "industry" that is expanding around Arthur is vegetable and flower cropping. While the small farms have always had roadside stands almost year around, a group of local Amish folks joined together to form a weekly "Produce Auction" that offers vegetables, plants and other greens in all of the "non-frost" months. Buyers include restaurants and wholesalers that seek farm fresh items as well as individuals that wish just a case or a flat to do some canning. Individual items are not offered, but many times smaller quantities can be bought off of the person who just won the auction for the whole pallet full of carrots or whatever. The auction is open on Thursdays and again on Mondays when the seasons are in full swing. Email us for auction dates before you make the drive as things change rapidly around Amish Country..
You will find that a visit to the Arthur area and Illinois Amish Country has much to see and do, yet its slower pace gives you plenty of time to relax and remember better times past.