Four Towns is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Oakland County Oakland County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Metro Detroit, metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 Census, its population was 1, ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The community is located at the junction of

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Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, West Bloomfield, and White Lake township. As an unincorporated community, Four Towns has no legally defined area or population statistics of its own, and it uses the Waterford 48328 ZIP Code.

First Settlers

In 1830, Harley Olmstead, from

Rensselaer County, New York Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the l ...

, was the first to settle in what would become Four Towns. In 1832, John K. Dewey, from

Windsor County, Vermont Windsor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,753. The shire town (county seat) is the town of Woodstock. The county's largest municipality is the town of Hartford. History Wind ...

, built the first frame house in Four Towns. That same year, Nathan R. Colvin brought his family from

Clarendon, Vermont Clarendon is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,412 at the 2020 census. Clarendon spans U.S. Route 7 and is split by the highway, the Cold River and Mill River, Otter Creek, and the Green Mountains into the ...

and built a farmhouse at Four Towns.

Post Office

Four Towns had a post office from 1856 until 1902. It was given the name "Four Towns P.O." because of the four townships meeting there. Squire Cooley was its first postmaster.

Church

The first church in Four Towns was the historic Four Towns Methodist Church. In 1866, a frame schoolhouse was built on land donated by Nathan R. Colvin at 6451 Cooley Lake Road in Waterford Township, Michigan. From that year until 1930 the building served as both a school and church. Since then the building has been used primarily for church activities. Church services were offered once every two weeks when Four Towns had few residents. Sunday school was held weekly during the Summer months. Today, the church is officially named Four Towns United Methodist Church.

Schoolhouse

The first schoolhouse was built of logs on the town line on a portion of the land of H.L. Hunt's farm. Soon the tiny schoolhouse was outgrown and a larger schoolhouse was built in 1866 on property donated by Nathan R. Colvin. The schoolhouse still stands as a church on that location on Cooley Lake Road and Lochaven Road.

Cemetery

Nathan R. Colvin gave a portion of his property for a cemetery. In 1839, the first recorded burial in the Four Towns Cemetery took place; Martha A. Coyles, age 7 months, 18 days. Four Towns Cemetery has 286 interments, as of 2016. Buried there are several early settlers and their families, including Nathan R. Colvin (1792–1873), Harley Olmstead (1803–1885) and John K. Dewey (1796–1887).

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Oakland County, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Metro Detroit Populated places established in 1830 1830 establishments in Michigan Territory