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Jacobsville Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church

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1886, Leander Sinko. Rabbit Bay Rd., east of Dreamland Rd., 0.75 miles northwest of Jacobsville
  • (Photograph by Balthazar Korab)
  • (Photograph by Balthazar Korab)

Isolated among pines and underbrush, the lovely, little, white-painted wooden church with a delicate open belfry is a pristine reminder of the Keweenaw quarry's boom years. Leander Sinko, a skilled Finnish American craftsman, who was noted locally for his ability to make houses, sailboats, skis, and hockey sticks, built it. His Finnish ancestry is clearly evident in the setback form of the tower. The congregation joined the Suomi Synod of the Finnish Lutheran Church soon after it was established in 1889. The church seats approximately 100. It served the Finnish population of Jacobsville for ninety years, as the economy changed from quarrying to strawberry growing and fishing. In 1952 its small congregation deeded the building to the Gloria Dei Church, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran congregation at Hancock. The church holds Sunday evening vespers in the summer and stands as a sturdy reminder of the hearty souls who lived, worked, and worshiped at this northern outpost.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Kathryn Bishop Eckert
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Data

Citation

Kathryn Bishop Eckert, "Jacobsville Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church", [Lake Linden, Michigan], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MI-01-HO23.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Michigan

Buildings of Michigan, Kathryn Bishop Eckert. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 491-491.

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