Amish Acres History
1968 - 2007
Richard L. Pletcher Founder
Amish Settlement in Indiana
Nappanee, Indiana, is located in the southwestern section of Elkhart County. The city was platted in 1873 to serve as a station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Village of Locke, located two and one half miles north of Nappanee, was founded nearly a decade earlier. Most of the buildings of Locke were moved to Nappanee after the railroad was completed. Mennonite settlements in Elkhart County preceded that of the Amish by nearly a decade as well. The first Amish to settle in Indiana arrived near Nappanee in 1839 -four sons of Barbara Stahly, an Amish widow from the Bavarian Palatinate of Germany. She brought her family to Stark County, Ohio in 1835. The Stahly family, of Swiss origin, moved to Wayne County, Ohio the following year, and in 1839, the sons, Christian, John, Jacob and Henry, came to Indiana. Christian Stahly appeared at the federal land office in Winamac, Indiana, on October 23, 1841, and obtained a presidential land grant. Barbara Stahly, the widow, died in 1896 and is buried in the Weldy Cemetery where a prominent gravestone still marks the burial site.
Christian StahlyChristian Stahly was born in Rhinebron, Germany, July 27, 1820. His parents were Henry and Barbara Stahly, natives of the same town. In November, 1835, they left Germany, landing in New York, and came to Starke County, Ohio, where they spent the winter, and in the spring removed to Wayne County, Ohio; here Christian lived eight years, then came to this county. He was married in Wayne County, Ohio, February 3, 1842, to Miss Fannie Haussauer, daughter of Peter and Mary Haussauer, of Wayne County, Ohio, who was born August 27, 1822; her father came from Germany and was among the first to settle in Eastern Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Stahly have a family of 7 children: Peter, born October 2, 1842; Barbara, February 25, 1844; John, September 23, 1846; Moses, July 27, 1849; Magdalena, November 10, 1851; Solomon, July 19, 1853; and Samuel, July 28, 1858.
Mr. Stahly entered his farm in this township in October, 1840, and moved on it in July, 1842; since that time this farm has been his home; here his children were born, and lived until they married and found homes for themselves. In his financial affairs Mr. Stahly has been quite successful -he has a pleasant home and a good farm of 157 acres, besides helping his children to secure homes. He first entered 80 acres, and when he settled on it there were but two settlers within a mile. The roads at this time were not cut out, and he was forced to cut his own road for two miles in order to reach his land. He has long been a member of the Amish Church. (Christian bought the 80 acres that is today Amish Acres for his son Moses. The first buildings were constructed in 1873. Moses' father-in-law, Noah Nissley, purchased the farm when Moses moved to Reno County, Kansas, and built the main house in 1893. Manases Kuhns, Nissley's son-in-law took over the farm and remained its owner until it was sold at auction following his death. Today the Stahly-Nissley-Kuhns farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places)
Moses Stahly Historical profile of Moses Stahly, founder of the farm that became Amish Acres.
(Taken from A History of Elkhart County, 1881, Chapman)
The Auction
The 80 acres Manasses Kuhns farm was advertised for sale by public auction in October of 1968. Over fifty heirs shared an interest in the estate. My father, LaVern, a downtown Nappanee furniture retailer, had nurtured a sense of community pride, local culture and heritage in me as a young boy. He had dreamed of preserving an Amish farm and opening it to the public for many years. As unlikely as it sounds we made a trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, around my freshman year in high school to research this dream. The Amish Farm & House, Lancaster's first tourist attraction, was opened in 1955. It became an inspiration for the fulfillment of this dream upon our return to Nappanee. Following my graduation from the School of Business, I returned to Indiana University in Bloomington for an additional semester. During that semester I designed my own schedule of classes which included folklore, art history and interior design. I researched folk festivals, Amish history and folk customs. I had already started, from LaVern's conception, the Village Art Festival surrounding Pletcher Furniture Village on Market Street in Nappanee.
The chance to make dreams become reality are rare. The auction of the Kuhns farm provided the chance for us to create Amish Acres. Three local businessmen, Gordon McCormick, Ivo "Pete" Heckaman and Freeman Borkholder were invited to join in the venture. A corporation was formed and became the successful bidder for the farm. The next closest bid was from Ben Kuhns, oldest son of Manasses, who lived in Arthur, Illinois. Most of the farm's historic features were unknown to us at the time of the auction. Shortly after the farm's opening as Amish Acres, the Pletcher family became sole owners of the farm and its future.
The Milestones
- 1968 Amish Acres, Inc. purchased the Manasses Kuhns farm at public auction.
- 1969 Amish carpenter crew preserves, stabilizes and restores original structures.
- 1970 Original Greeting Barn built, farm opened to the public for tours.
- 1971 Family style restaurant opens with menu still in use.
- 1972 Arts & Crafts Festival moved to Amish Acres from Pletcher Furniture.
- 1974 Meat & Cheese Shop log building relocated to Amish Acres.
- South barn of the current restaurant relocated to Amish Acres.
- Maintenance shop constructed
- 1975 Refreshment Center log building relocated to Amish Acres.
- Wagon shed replica constructed.
- 1976 Mint still relocated to Amish Acres.
- Saw mill relocated to Amish Acres.
- Addition to maintenance shop constructed.
- 1977 Restaurant fire causes total loss, rebuilt in the present location in six months to the day.
- Addition to Refreshment Center.
- 1978 Greeting Barn reconstructed from second relocated barn.
- 1979 Addition to the Greeting Barn.
- 1980 Walnut Street and Market Street houses moved to Amish Acres from Nappanee.
- Sawmill added Amish Acres.
- Additional buildings added to Amish Acres before 1980 include the Chauncy Thomas blacksmith shop, the maple sugar camp, Nappanee ice house and broom shop.
- 1987 Locke Township Meeting House theatre added to the Greeting Barn.
- Plain & Fancy debuts in 165 seat Locke Township Meeting House.
- Addition added to the Meat & Cheese Shop.
- Addition added to the Market Street house.
- 1988 Amish Acres listed on The National Register of Historic Places.
- 1989 64 room Inn at Amish Acres constructed on the farm's grounds.
- 1992 Round Barn theatre relocated to Amish Acres.
- Cow Shed craft shop opened across the county road.
- 1994 66 room Nappanee Inn constructed one half mile west of Amish Acres.
- 1995 Amish Acres opens Holiday Kiosk at University Park Mall.
- Overnight Country Package offered by Inn at Amish Acres.
- 1996 Introduction of repertory Theatre to Plain and Fancy at The Round Barn Theatre: Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Godspell, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Annie.
- 1997 Encore season of repertory theatre: Tintypes, State Fair (Midwest Premiere), The Music Man, Shennandoah, The Baker’s Wife (newly revised version) and revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
- Introduction of Theme Buffets in the Barn Loft Grill.
- Marsha Adams, author, hired as dining consultant.
- Stephen Schwartz attends opening night of The Baker’s Wife.
- Joseph Stein Stage dedicated opening night of The Baker’s Wife.
- Joseph Stein visits November 1, 1997.
- Robert Falls, Artistic Director, The Goodman Theatre attends opening of The Bakers Wife.
- Introduction of corporate picnics.
- TIME magazine features Nappanee in cover article, December 8, 1997.
- Bulk food introduced in The Cow Shed.
- Pond dug at Cow Shed and drainage run to US 6.
- Travel Guide magazine names Amish Acres number three of 97 finds for 1997.
- Group Travel magazine names Amish Acres its only recommended destination in the US.
- Christians walk out of The Baker’s Wife.
- Dirk Lumbard plays Harold Hill with Stratford costumes.
- Ray Frewen plays Charlie Anderson in Shennandoah.
- Scott Schwartz directs The Baker’s Wife.
- Introduced mail order gift catalog.
- Expanded banner page advertising into Detroit and Indianapolis.
- Ed Bearss, Chief Historian, National Park Service, Emeritus, attends opening of Shenandoah.
- 1998 Repertory Theatre season Closer than Ever, Big River, My Fair Lady, 1776, Zorba, Plain & Fancy, The Sound of Music.
- Liz's Furniture leases former West Store of Pletcher Furniture.
- Amish Acres open on-line store through Yahoo!
- U.S. News and World Report magazine features Amish Acres on-line General Store in cover article, December 7, 1998.
- 1999 Repertory Theatre season Brigadoon, Hello Dolly, Annie Get Your Gun, Grand Night for Signing, Plain & Fancy, Meet Me in Saint Louis.
- Hollis Resnick plays Dolly Levi.
- Retail Bakery remodeled.
- Amish Acres online store ranked as Top Service Store by Yahoo!
- Amish Acres opens in-line store for Holiday season at Scottsdale Mall.
- 2000 Kuhns family reunion, September 24; 472 relatives attend.
- German School acquired in October, 2000.
- Genesis and Exodus films written by Frank Ramirez and Richard Pletcher produced.
- Round Barn Theatre stage renovate; grand drape, additional lighting circuits, structural posts removed, wings added.
- White House purchased for actor housing.
- 2000 Millennium New Year's Eve party with fireworks.
- Barn Loft Grill created.
- Thanksgiving Buffets first served.
- Stone House purchased.
- Mustard Mansion purchased for staff housing.
- Wood rail fence installed surrounding perimeter of Amish Acres.
- Tower sign replaced with low profile sign surrounded with field stone.
- United States Postal Service selects Amish Acres to host dedication ceremony for First Day of Issue of Amish Quilt Stamps commemoratives.
- Repertory Theatre season Triumph of Love, Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, Smoke on the Mountain, Plain & Fancy, and Peter Pan.
- Tricia Sloma from WNDU-TV hosts "Simple Life" series from Amish Acres.
- Amish Acres plays host to 450 Holland Choir visitors for guided tour and dinner.
- Richard Pletcher selected as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
- Amish Acres opens holiday store at Glenbrook Mall in Fort Wayne.
- Amish Acres joins wireless community with T1 Internet connection and fiber optic connection between buildings.
- All inclusive Theatre Escape Weekends.
- Two new Documentary Films created: Genesis and Exodus.
- House located across from Amish Acres purchased and remodeled for actor's housing.
- Theatre costume shop and rehearsal studio moved to School Belfry.
- Amish Acres acquires Amish one room German School House.
- Amish Acres releases first addition Recipe Book, sells out in two months.
- 2001 Repertory Theatre season Carnival, Gypsy, Damn Yankees, Cole, Plain & Fancy, Cinderella.
- School Belfry opens Quilt Gallery and Blue Ribbon Art Gallery.
- Round Barn Theatre stage remodeled, Grand Drape installed.
- Christmas Shop opens in Stone House across county road from Amish Acres.
- Richard Pletcher and Frank Ramirez publish This Wooden O: The Story of Amish Acres, Plain & Fancy, and the Round Barn Theatre.
- 2002 Repertory Theatre season Plain and Fancy, Dames at Sea, The King and I, West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
- Rainbow Fabrics, a fabric store owned by Kathy Kohl, moves into the lower level of The School Belfry.
- New Children's film, Bonnets & Britches: The Whys & Ways of the Amish Especially to Children, is shown in the Locke Township Meeting House.
- The Amish Acres Arts and Crafts Festival is rated among to Top 50 outstanding festivals and events for 2002 by Leisure Group Travel Magazine.
- The Amish Acres Arts and Crafts Festival is an American Bus Association Top 100 Event winner for 2003.
The Stahly-Nissley-Kuhns Farmstead
Today the Stahley-Nissley-Kuhns farm, now known as Amish Acres, is the only Old Order Amish farm listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Kuhns farm was featured on the cover of The Prairie Farmer, a popular Midwestern farm publication in the 1930s during a "name that farm" contest.
First Day on the Farm
Fred Simic, a college friend I had convinced to come to work with me to create Amish Acres, and I started mowing the farm's weeded orchard on Memorial Day in 1969. By noon I went home with both eyes swollen shut from the abundance of pollen. The landscape of the farm was so overrun that rats seemed to own the place and were climbing mulberry trees for the red berries in broad daylight. Fred and I ambushed the varmints with rifles without success. However, in several days we heard about a body found along the B&O tracks at a location that would have been in the line of our futile fire. Rather than having been shot by our misguided bullets, the bum has simply fallen off the freight car upon which he was hitching a ride. The farm was a favorite overnight place for hobos on the trains over the years, particularly during the Depression. It was common for the hay mow to be an overnight home to more than one vagrant at a time, all being fed by the family at each meal.
Heifer Experiment
Shortly after the purchase, but before the farm was ever opened to the public as Amish Acres, a herd of heifers was put out to pasture to begin making money for the new corporation. Because the fences were in relative poor condition, the heifers quickly found the weak points and were on the wrong side of the fence as often as the right side. The end of the heifer experiment came the day after the night that the entire herd ended up on the B&O Railroad tracks heading toward town. Not sure of the herd's whereabouts, I flagged down a west bound train around midnight to ask the engineer if he had seen our cows.
Luckily the heifers had already rendezvoused in the American Legion parking lot at about 2 a.m. just following the bar's last call. By that time Fred Simic, and his horse Shemo, was rounding up the young cows to the delight of several inebriated legionnaires. The drive back down the tracks took two more hours and ended with traffic on U.S. 6 stopped for an extended period as the heifers made their last trip to the farm. Monday morning the truck arrived to move the herd to a farm with more experience in animal husbandry and animal containment. We lost less than $5,000 in the sale. Not bad for a start.
During the same early period of porous fences, the horses got out so often that the police called me at any hour whenever a horse was reported out anywhere in town. As our fences were systematically repaired, more and more of the calls were for horses which were not ours. I now know why brands are important, you get more sleep.
Employees with More Than Tenure
A number of Amish Acres employees have been a part of the farm since its earliest beginnings. One employee, my fourth grade teacher, has been a tour guide for twenty three years. She started her career at Amish Acres after retiring from two school systems. She is over ninety years old and drives her own car to work each day. Her son was awarded an Emmy for his direction of the San Francisco Symphonic Chorus in 1993 and brought the statue to Amish Acres stage as part of the Nappanee Native Sons & Daughters Program sponsored by the Nappanee Public Library. The library won the John Cotton Dana public relations award from the American Library Association for the series.
Another one of our senior employees quilted in the gross daadi house in the farm's historic area for over twenty years. Her prized quilts number in the hundreds. She was the first woman school bus driver in Indiana and I rode on her bus for many years - one of the few bus riding students to ever be the last one on and the first one off. Most of Amish Acres management team has been associated with the farm for ten to fifteen years, many starting their carriers as high school and college students.
Discovery of the Root Cellar
The root cellar, or cave, on the farm was uncovered after Albert Kuhns mentioned its former location while recalling his childhood memories. Upon finding several stones lined up in the grass of the former hog lot, preliminary digging uncovered the four field stone walls of the former cellar and the remains of the brick steps at one end. As was typical practice on similar farms, the cellar became obsolete when the basement in the new house became more convenient and household refuse was thrown into the cellar to fill it in. A dozen medicine bottles, pieces of crockery intact plus many broken pieces of china and glassware were recovered from the cellar. Today the cellar has been rebuilt from the remains and is part of the farm's tour.
Memories of The Open Well
Albert Kuhns, great-great grandson of the farm's founder, recalled that when the open well under the back porch of the main house collapsed in the 1920's and the windmill was installed to pump water from the newly driven deep water well marked the end of typhoid fever's plaguing his family. He lost his mother and stepmother to the dreaded disease. The nostalgic green wooden pump with the well worn red handle over the old well on the back porch of the house carried little nostalgia for Albert. Rather than restoring the well it has been left as silent tribute to the hardships which were endured on this farm along with the beauty and serenity more easily remembered and seen by today's visitor.
The Legend of Tater Losee
Nineteen rural building have been moved to the farm to help tell the story of the past. Tater Losee, Nappanee house mover, moved the ones that were not dismantled. The ice house was originally built in Nappanee where it stored block ice in sawdust for local pick up. The building was later purchased and moved to Milford, Indiana, 15 miles away. Later, Amish Acres purchased it and moved it back to Nappanee. The mover, Tater Losee, was paid for moving it both ways.
Tater also moved the Chauncy Thomas Blacksmith Shop from six miles south of Nappanee. Everything, including the anvil, forge, stoves, workbench, tools and parts, was left in its place and moved in one piece. Arrangements were made with the B&O Railroad to assist in transporting the building across the tracks on the way to the farm. After waiting for forty five minutes, Tater said, "Lets go. I've got to get home for lunch."
After setting the blacksmith shop on the new foundation which had been prepared for it, the north east corner leaned to the left. Tater analyzed the situation from every angle, then got in his World War II ammunitions carrier, complete with heavy duty wench, backed up, revved the motor, and intentionally rammed the corner of the building, jolting it into a shivering racket. When the swaying stopped, it settled into its new home a second time and every corner was plumb.
The Restaurant Fire
On January 31, 1977, Amish Acres original restaurant burned to the ground. The fire was set in a act of arson as diversion. The purpose was to get the police on the west side of town at closing of the two drug stores on the east side of town. The perpetrators plan was to rob the drug stores of their cash and soft drugs which would be converted into hard drugs for their own use. Several feet of snow and extremely cold temperatures hampered the fire fighting efforts. The first major truck to arrive was stuck in the snow before it got to the scene. Although the building was not protected by a sprinkler system, direct alarms had trucks with sirens and red lights arriving at the scene before the criminals were out of the building. I was the first person in the building and could see fires set in numerous places in the lower level bakery
Following setting the fire, the two confused accomplices involved themselves in several acts of ironic comedy. Upon getting stuck in the parking lot during the attempted getaway, the one who pushed the driver out, was left to his own devises. The stranded man asked the police for a ride uptown because his car was broken down on County Road 52. The police gave him the lift. He wondered around town looking for a pay phone to find his buddy. Finding no phone, he wondered into the police station and asked the rookie cop holding down the station to use the phone. The rookie noticed a switchblade knife in his pocket, proceeded to frisked him, and found blank prescription papers in his possession taken from a medical clinic in Goshen which had been burned the night before to cover the drug robbery which took place there.
Rebuilding in Six Months
The burned restaurant was relocated and rebuilt as a ground floor addition to the two story gift barn. We were already in preliminary negotiation with Mary Jane Deardorf of Syracuse for a large barn on her property for expansion of the restaurant in its original location. My high school friend, John Kendall, West Point graduate, had just returned to Nappanee to live from a career in the United States Army, offered to help. He and I had torn down a small barn for my father while in college. John and a scabbed together crew began dismantling the barn before the insurance claim was settled and the rubble removed. His dedication was instrumental in the rebuilt restaurant's opening six months to the day from the fire's rubble with growth from 150 seats to 400 seats thrown in for extra measure. The new kitchen was filled with used stainless steel equipment from the Indiana Toll Road which was at the time converting from its original cafeteria service to fast food format.
Group Looking for Arcola, Illinois in Nappanee, Indiana
Many groups travel to Amish Acres from Chicago each year. Possibly the most confused was a group that arrived at Amish Acres to discover that they were slated to visit Rockhome Gardens in Arcola, Illinois. The driver of the charter bus had asked the group's leader where they were going, the leader replied, "That Amish place." The driver, more familiar with Amish Acres in Indiana, turned left out of Chicago. The next discovery was that the group's deposit was in Illinois and the group was in Nappanee. High level phone negotiations arranged for the group to be fed and Amish Acres to be paid for the group with money transferred from Arcola.
Restaurant's First Day
Visitors to Amish Acres demanded food service before Amish Acres was organized to supply it. The restaurant was opened on a Sunday in July of 1970, 150 ham dinners were served and I washed all of the dishes in a three compartment sink. With only one place setting per seat, dishes and flatware had to be washed before the next party could be served. Monday morning I was enroute to South Bend to return with a used $125 immersion dishwasher which was installed by the next Sunday. Now the restaurant is operated with the fifth dishwasher, a stainless steel contraption which costs the same as a mid-sized Mercedes automobile.
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