Four Towns is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Oakland County Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a principal county of the Detroit metropolitan area, containing the bulk of Detroit's northern suburbs. Its seat of government is Pontiac, and its largest city is Troy. As of the ...

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 so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The community is located at the junction of

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, 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 (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy, New York, Troy. The county is named ...

, 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 Winds ...

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

Clarendon, Vermont Clarendon is a New England town, town in Rutland County, Vermont, Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,412 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Clarendon spans U.S. Route 7 in Vermont, U.S. Route 7 and is split by ...

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 Four Towns Methodist Church is an historic church located in the unincorporated town of Four Towns, Michigan in Waterford Township, Michigan in Oakland County, Michigan Oakland County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of ...

. 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