1869 Vriesland Reformed Church
The congregation of the 1869 Vriesland Reformed Church was organized in 1846 in the Netherlands. Led by the Reverend Maartem Anne Ypma, forty-nine adults and their children emigrated to the United States in 1847. Attracted by the clay soil, these farmers settled in 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.