COOPER TWP, MI — Listen … can you hear the chatter and laughter of the children’s voices? Hear the skip and dance of their steps over the wooden planks of the floor?
Hear the scrape of their chairs and desks as they are seated for the school day.
The Bellflower, located at 4700 West D Avenue, just north of Kalamazoo in Cooper Township, was a one-room schoolhouse in 1871.
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In the Bellfower kitchen, a sliding door features the Jug School's last class on one side and a chalkboard on the other.The school was known as the
Jug Corners School. Children from both Cooper and Alamo townships came to the school for their daily lessons, and their first teacher, Albert Fosdick, was paid $1.25 per day for his work.
One-Jug Corners
As the schoolhouse sits on the intersection with North 12th Street, the four corners were known as Jug Corners in the 1840s because of a small pottery factory by that name located there. The business didn’t last long. The factory produced one jug — just one — and the owner then closed it down. The name, however, stuck. At least until the schoolhouse closed in 1954, and the building was purchased by the Church of Nazarene.
“And then, in 1980, it became the Hickory Stick Shoppe, where a former student of the school, Ellen Haskell, later became a teacher, sold antiques, crafts, ceramics, paintings, that sort of thing,” says Barbara Schudel, the current owner. “She wanted to save the building.”
Schudel had long had her fond eye on the slowly deteriorating building that stood just a few doors away from her own home. When she received a text from her daughter alerting her that the building went up for sale, she called the real estate agency the same day.
“My daughter drove by the building first and texted me a photo of it,” Schudel says. “A couple days later, the building was mine. Even as I had no idea what I would do with it. My husband Mike and I just looked at each other and said — what did we just do?”
What came next
Schudel only knew she wanted to save the building. A retired chemical engineer, Schudel had admired the old structure for years. She had met the owner of Hickory Stick Shoppe at a neighborhood garage sale, and they had chatted about the old schoolhouse, not realizing the connection they would one day share.
“Ellen told me about her memories about coming to school there in a horse and buggy,” Schudel says.
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The Bellfower, a small events venue, is located on 4700 W. D Ave. in Alamo TownshipWhile occupied by the Church of Nazarene, the congregation added an extension to the building that expanded by three rooms. After that, the building remained unchanged.
“The front had a kind of vestibule,” Schudel says. “I don’t believe that was part of the original building but was probably added in the 1940s. But when Mike and I got a closer look at the building, we realized the building had good bones, but it would need a lot of work.”
Schudel found gaping holes in the building foundation that would require lifting up the entire building to put in a new foundation. The roof had asbestos in it and had to be replaced. Layers upon layers of lead paint had to be removed.
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The Bellflower offers long or round tables, china, and decorating accessories along with the rental.“We took our time to refurbish it,” she says. “There were once two entrances upfront — one for the girls, one for the boys. We renovated those spaces into bathrooms. But how I would eventually use the building, well, I didn’t know until the last minute.”
Schudel considered her options. A coffee shop? A brewery? But she wanted to run the place on her own and not have to deal with managing employees.
“Then I found that there was a niche in the market for smaller events,” she says. “Not everyone wants their events to be large.”
With a capacity of 50 persons, Schudel envisioned a space for smaller weddings, bridal and baby showers, celebrations of life, holiday parties and family reunions, specialized classes and workshops, and artist events.
The name rings a bell
With the usage of the space in mind, Schudel pondered the name. Considering the building’s original name, Jug Corners School, she mentioned calling it something with Jugs, but her husband Mike instantly boycotted that idea.
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The Bellflower has both indoor and outdoor arches available for decorating.Different connotation with that word, he said,” she laughs. “I thought about the names of flowers, and I love milkweed, but having ‘weed’ as part of the name might again bring the wrong connotation. Mike warned I would get calls from people looking for a marijuana shop.”
Schudel started making a list, and she thought about the bell in the tower over the building, once used to call children to class. Bell … bell … bell … bellflower?
“I told Mike I was thinking about Bellflower, and he said, hey, that was the name of his grade school!” she recalls. “It felt like the name Bellflower was meant to be.”
The pandemic intervenes
What wasn’t meant to be was a nationwide pandemic — Covid. The Bellflower opened to the public in February 2020, held two events, and then was forced to close again until the pandemic was over.
“We held a bridal and a baby shower here, and that was it, we had to close,” she says. “I’m here because I love old buildings, and I wanted to save the history of this place. The Bellflower represents the past to me, a simpler time, and people who come here seem to yearn for that, too.”
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The interior of the Bellflower is both historical and modern.Build it and they will come — and when the pandemic seemed to have passed, they came again. Schudel says the building is reserved for events well into the future. Some events are once and done while others are regulars — such as a tap dance class that takes place every Tuesday morning, sounding the rhythm of steps once again on the wooden planks. Twice a year, Schudel sponsors artist events, with artists setting up tables to sell their wares.
The Bellflower is available to rent for $50 an hour Monday through Thursday, $95 an hour during weekends, along with a $100 non-refundable deposit. Tables, round or banquet, with wooden chairs are available for use. The adjoining kitchen has a refrigerator, stove with oven, microwave, large sink, and storage shelving. Vintage China is also available for meals — “just waiting to be used,” Schudel says. Food preparation and cleanup is in the hands of facility guests.
Recalling their recent wedding celebration at The Bellflower, Rebecca Nelson and Cullen O’Neil share a new fond memory. “It felt personal like we could make it our own. Barb had beautiful options to offer, and it was really fun coming up with ideas for how to decorate the place. It’s bright and happy, and now it has a special place in my heart,” says Nelson.
“For me, the building represents a lot of emotions,” Schudel says. “I can sit here by myself, and there’s just a feeling … “
Schudel grows silent, looking around her, lost in that feeling of a simpler time.