Cooper Congregational Church

Registered Site L1445

Cooper Congregational Church

In 1843 the Reverend Mason Knappen and Ova Hoyt organized the Cooper Congregational Church with families from New York and Vermont. Church founders Laura Blanchard, John and Betsy Borden, Mace Nancy, and John Borden, Matilda DeLano, David Deming, Eliza Earl, Lydia Hart, Fidelia Pratt, William and Susan Lyman and Laman and Phoebe Monroe. These members first worshipped in a log schoolhouse at Cooper Centre. The present church was erected in 1856.

Side 2

This church was built in 1856 with money raised from the sale of family pews - a popular fund-raising method used in New England and New York. Ephraim Delano, George Delano, George Hart, A.R. Allen, A.W. Ingerson, Allen Chappell and John Walker built the church on land donated by Barney and Eliza Earl. The cornice and square louvered belfry, containing a bell cast by Meneeley & Kimberly of Troy, New York, reflect the Church's Greek Revival styling.

Erected 1989

Location: 8071 Douglas Avenue
Cooper Township, Kalamazoo County

Topics:
Congregational Churches

Latitude: 42.33275, Longitude: -85.597427