The Meyersdale-Springs, PA, Old Order Amish Settlement is located in Somerset County. The first Amish settlers migrated to this area at the height of the Methodist revival movement in Lancaster and Berks Counties. Amish young people were leaving the church and marrying non-Amish, which spurred several devout church leaders to move to a new location. Three settlements sprang up in Somerset County in 1767. Only the Meyersdale-Springs community remains Amish. Other groups have since affiliated with related Amish-Mennonite and Mennonite churches. In 1927, a major split resulted in the formation of the Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship.

Somerset County was the source of many Amish settlers who chose to form new settlements in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois. In 1986 the Meyersdale-Springs community, rich in Amish history and culture, had four church districts (congregations) serving approximately 700 people spread over an area reaching south into Garrett County, Maryland.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 583. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

To cite this page:

MLA style: Yoder, Samuel L. "Meyersdale-Springs, Pennsylvania, Old Order Amish Settlement." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1987. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 09 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/M495.html>

APA style: Yoder, Samuel L. (1987). "Meyersdale-Springs, Pennsylvania, Old Order Amish Settlement." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 09 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/M495.html>