Behind sagging, useless bulkhead, the levee sloughs off into the river at the site of "cave" at the head of Elmira Avenue in Algiers in this file photos taken on Nov. 20, 1892, 20 years after the Amish settled in and around this location.
FILE PHOTO
Almost everyone has the same reaction when hearing about it: "No way!"
This also was Christy Jarreau's reply when someone told her that New Orleans once had its own Amish settlement.
"That was hard for me to wrap my head around," the Watson resident said. "I just said, 'No way! New Orleans?' But now I'm wondering if it's true."
So, is it? Yes way!
The Amish settlement was small, lasting only 26 years, between 1846 and 1872, documented in Amish historian David Luthy's 1991 book, "The Amish in America: Settlements that Failed, 1840-2019."
Luthy authored a number of articles and books on the Amish before his death in October 2025. He was not native to the Amish but eventually joined a community in Alymer, Ontario. He began writing his book in 1971, tracing failed Amish settlements throughout the United States. The chapter on New Orleans is short but well-researched.
Weather is a hazard
As Ohio historian and journalist Kevin Williams points out, the Amish's short-lived time in New Orleans had more to do with climate than conflicting lifestyles.
"The biggest thing that keeps the Amish from settling in Louisiana — and Mississippi for that matter and anywhere in the South — is the heat, because they don't have electricity, and it's just stifling in the summer," Williams said. "That's why you have the largest concentration of Amish in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, because you don't want be where it's either too ice cold or too stifling hot."
Fannie Raber, left, and Verna Yoder prepare a meal inside a temporary kitchen used by Amish volunteers as they aid in hurricane recovery on Jan. 26, 2022, in Lake Charles. The Amish often say they're the last to during recovery efforts, and they bring often learn to make such Louisiana culinary specialties as gumbo to incorporate into their cooking upon returning home.
STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK
An even bigger problem in 1846 was the lack of money. Luthy writes that the Amish left their native Alsace and Lorraine in France in 1840 and migrated to the U.S. through the Port of New Orleans.
"Many of the numerous Amish immigrants who migrated from Europe to central Illinois after 1840 landed in America at the Port of New Orleans," Luthy writes. "There they boarded steamboats for the rest of their journey up the Mississippi River and into the Illinois River."
Others didn't have the money to move forward.
"Perhaps, too, some had not even been able to completely pay for their ocean passage," Luthy writes. "Thus, a small community of stranded Amish settlers is said to have existed in New Orleans. Of course, at that time it was not the huge city it is today. However, it was not a farming community either."
Spoke the same language
Still, the Amish didn't feel completely out of place.
The residents of New Orleans were mostly French speaking, and the Amish migrated from France, so it's possible that they felt more at ease in Louisiana than at the English-speaking ports of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
"At any rate, New Orleans was an unusual place for an Amish community to exist," Luthy wrote. "And that it did, indeed, exist as evidenced by just enough bare facts to make us very curious."
The Mississippi River curves around Algiers Point in New Orleans, which was settled by the Amish between 1846 and 1872..
FILE PHOTO
Luthy traced the community through letters, along with written accounts by traveling out-of-state Amish who were readily welcomed by the New Orleans community. He also gathered stories from some of the New Orleans Amish's descendants.
One letter revealed that New Orleans' Amish settled along Elmira Avenue at Algiers Point.
"An Amishman, Christian Oswald, who likely emigrated from Alsace, is said by his descendants to have crossed the ocean with his family 'with just enough money to land in New Orleans,'" Luthy writes. "The family stayed there seven or eight years during which time Christian undoubtedly found a job, and his wife 'would bake fancy cookies, cakes, and bread, then sell them to the people around New Orleans.' By about 1860 they had saved enough money to continue their migration to central Illinois."
Then there was an account by Amish bishop Peter Naffziger, who told his family that he twice walked from his settlement in Butler County, Ohio, to New Orleans to minister to its small Amish congregation. Another Amish bishop, Joseph Maurer, emigrated from Alsace in 1855. Luthy wrote that, in 1856, Maurer settled in the Partridge Creek settlement in Woodford County, Illinois. On his way to New Orleans in 1867 he died and was buried along the banks of the Mississippi River in an unmarked grave.
Finally, Luthy cites a Christmas Day letter written to Mennonite periodical Herald of Truth detailing the visit of Jacob Kauffman of the Melvern Amish community in Osage County, Kansas. It was published in 1871, the year before the New Orleans community faded out of existence.
"They undoubtedly by that time had lost many of their traditions by exposure to urban life," Luthy wrote.
Amish in Louisiana today
These days, no Amish communities exist in Louisiana, though there is a longstanding Mennonite community in DeRidder.
Though the Amish left New Orleans in 1872, there's often a strong Amish presence in Louisiana during hurricane recovery. Here, Matt Yoder, from left, Marlin Schlabah and Susan Yoder measure and cut drywall as they and other Amish volunteers repair a home damaged by Hurricane Laura on Jan. 26, 2022, in Westlake.
STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK
But there is an Amish community that exists in Texas, according to Kevin Williams, a historian and reporter for CNBC and The New York Times.
In his July 18, 2025, article, "Where Are the Amish In Louisiana?" for Amish 365 (amish365.com), Williams not only explores why there are no settlements in the state but also what the state would have to offer the Amish, including agricultural opportunities, religious freedom and family values.
"I consider myself a journalist first, but I spent a number of years researching Amish culture before I dove back into journalism full-time," Williams said, speaking from his home outside of Cincinnati. "I spent years visiting Amish settlements, literally from Maine to Montana, and I learned a lot during that period about them."
Through his research, Williams discovered that hurricane season often creates a strong Amish presence in Louisiana. The Mennonite Christian Aid Ministries in Ohio send teams of Amish and Mennonite volunteers to help in disaster relief and recovery. Williams says they are often known as the last to leave a disaster area.
Though the Amish left New Orleans in 1872, there's often a strong Amish presence in Louisiana during hurricane recovery. Here, Matt Yoder, left, and Marlin Schlabah measure and cut drywall as they and other Amish volunteers repair a home damaged by Hurricane Laura on Jan. 26, 2022, in Westlake.
STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK
He points to Hurricane Rita, which hit southwest Louisiana only weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. For years after Hurricane Rita, Amish teams settled in Louisiana and brought their traditional cooking and food styles.
And, Williams said, they often learn and incorporate local cooking traditions into their own.
"There's a lot of culinary exchange, so you better believe they brought gumbo back to Ohio with them," he said.
Williams predicts a return of the Amish to Louisiana.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see the first settlement in Louisiana within the next three years," he said. "There's a growing Amish population in Arkansas, and northern Louisiana is very rural and affordable, so it has a lot to offer."