South Olive Christian Reformed Church / South Olive Christian Reformed Church

The South Olive Christian Reformed Church is a daughter congregation of the Noordeloos church. The Noordeloos church and three other local West Michigan congregations seceded from the Reformed Church in America in 1857 to form the Christian Reformed Church. In 1885 members of the Noordeloos church received permission to organize this church in the southern part of Olive Township. It was originally called the Holland Christian Reformed Church at New Holland. Completed in 1887, this church is the nucleus of this Dutch-Calvinist farming community. A. J. Baker of Hamilton, Michigan, was the contractor for the original forty-by-fifty-foot frame building. The structure was enlarged in 1897. The chapel, built in 1898, was moved and attached to the rear of the church in 1935. The full basement was completed in 1948. The simple design is accented with Gothic windows. The front tower, with its open belfry, houses a 1,033-pound bell cast in 1897.