The congregation of the Vriesland Reformed Church was organized in 1846 in the Netherlands. Led by the Reverend Maarten Anne Ypma, forty-nine adults and their children emigrated to the United States in 1847. Attracted by the clay soil, these farmers settled this area and named it Vriesland for their native province of Friesland in the Netherlands. Many descendants of the community’s original families still reside in the area, and Frisian names are prevalent. Built in 1869 during the ministry of the Reverend Henry Uiterwyk, this church building is one of the oldest Reformed Church structures in Michigan. The first church on this site was a log cabin, soon replaced by a clapboard building. The Colonial style of this third place of worship remains largely unchanged, with the original steeple, roof line, exterior walls, and ornamentation still intact. The congregation worshipped here until 1973.