Cooper Township Schools

General Information and Sources

The following sketch is from History of Kalamazoo County, Michigan, by Samuel W. Durant, published in Philadelphia by Everts & Abbott, 1880.

“The educational interests of Cooper were not neglected during the early days of the township history. As early as 1836 a school was organized at Cooper Centre. Its sessions were held in a log house of very primitive construction, and presided over by Miss Adeline Hicks, now Mrs. George Hart, who had about 20 pupils. The township was soon after divided into school districts, whose limits-were frequently subjected to alterations, until the present number of complete districts is 6, and of fractional districts 2. Upon these log school-houses were generally erected, which were later replaced by substantial structures of brick or wood.

“The present board of school directors embraces the following names: Billings Crane, J. J. Monroe, A. W. Ingerson, John Albertson, D. E. Wilcox, L. B. Fisher, and B. M. Thomas.

“Number of children in township………………….	341
Number of children in attendance………………..	273
Number of school-houses………………………….	8
Number of teachers employed…………………….	19
Total valuation of school property……………….	$6350”