Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian Church

In 1845 local Catholics began holding Mass in the home of Irish immigrant James Markey in Bunker Hill Township. Father Kelly from Ann Arbor traveled on horseback to provide religious services. After the death of a neighbor’s son in 1849, Markey gave the church land for a cemetery. Parishioners built a wood-framed church in the middle of the cemetery in 1864. Bishop Lefevere of Detroit named the church after St. Cornelius, a Roman priest who became Pope in A.D. 251, and St. Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage. In 1869 the parish purchased a farm adjoining the property and was assigned its first resident priest. By 1873 the farm was sold and the church was a mission of Pinckney’s parish. Father Connelly of Williamston was assigned to the parish in 1898. The next year, he led construction of a larger church that could accommodate more members. It was paid for as it was constructed. In 1905 Father Connelly, now the resident priest, continued further expansion. The parish built a rectory and a convent, and the original church was moved from the cemetery across the street and converted into a school staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph from Kalamazoo. Fires destroyed the church in 1906 and the rectory in 1910. Both were rebuilt, using fire-resistant brick and stone. The parish built a larger school with an auditorium in 1912. It served the community until 1964.