Drenthe Christian Reformed Church

The village of Drenthe was settled by three groups of Dutch immigrants in 1847. Those from Staphorst settled to the west; those from the province of Drenthe, to the east; and the “Flakkenaars” from Zuid, Holland, to the north. The settlers first worshiped in nearby Vriesland, but in 1848 they built a Reformed church east of the village. It was soon outgrown, and in 1875 this church was built. In 1882, following dissent over some practices of the Reformed denomination, the congregation voted to join the recently organized Christian Reformed Church. For many years services were conducted in Dutch, but by 1946 all were in English. Several additions have been made to the structure since 1875, but the main building has the original hand-hewn beams and fieldstone foundation.