On June 17, 1898, Dutch settler D. J. Zylstra (1859-1943) moves to Lynden, in northwestern Whatcom County, where he will play a pivotal role in shaping both the town's Dutch community and Lynden itself for the next 45 years. He will be among the leaders in establishing the local Christian Reformed Church and the Lynden Christian School, both which continue to thrive more than 100 years later.
Beginnings
Douwe Jelle (D. J.) Zylstra was born in Drachten, the Netherlands, on December 2, 1859. He immigrated to the United States at age 22 and settled in Charles Mix County, Dakota Territory (later South Dakota). He was a farmer during his South Dakota years, and he became active in local and state politics after he obtained his American citizenship. In 1883 he married Dieuwerke Dyksterhuls (1868-1908), another Dutch settler, and they had nine children -- five sons and four daughters.
The family moved to Washington in 1895, settling first in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island. They moved to Lynden, in northwestern Whatcom County a few miles from the Canadian border, about three years later, arriving on June 17, 1898. Zylstra wasted little time assimilating into Lynden life. It was a time of rapid growth for the town (its population jumped from 365 in 1900 to 1,148 in 1910), and many of the new arrivals were Dutch citizens or were of Dutch descent. Lynden historian Dorothy Koert writes that Zylstra's house on Front Street became "the first stopping place for the new Dutch families" (Portrait of Lynden, 64), and he led the way in helping new arrivals adjust to their life in Lynden.
Church and School
He didn't stop there. Ed Nelson, another Lynden historian, writes that Zylstra "is credited with being the spark" (A History of Lynden, 110) that started the Christian Reformed Church in Lynden. He was a charter member of the church, which was formed in 1900. It grew and expanded through the twentieth century, so much so that by 1990 there were five Christian Reformed churches in Lynden and four other Reformed churches. Lynden's 2014 Yellow Pages lists five Christian Reformed churches and another six Reformed churches.
Zylstra also played a key role in the formation of the Lynden Christian School, which opened in the autumn of 1910. He likewise served on its board for many years. As did the Christian Reformed Church, the Lynden Christian School grew and expanded over the years. The school originally only served students through eighth grade, but in 1945 it began offering high-school classes, and a building for the high school opened in 1946. The school kept growing, and in 2014 it had 1,200 students attending preschool through high school in campuses in both Lynden and Bellingham. (The Bellingham school, known as the Evergreen Christian School, served students through eighth grade.)
A Giant in His Time
During his early years in Lynden, Zylstra sold insurance and real estate and also ran a furniture store. He later sold fire insurance. In 1907 the family moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, for Dieuwerke Zylstra's health, but she died not long after their arrival, and the Zylstras returned to Lynden in 1909. In 1915 Zylstra married Margaret Kooyman (1866-1942). They had no children together, but many of his children from his first marriage -- and later his grandchildren and great-grandchildren -- were active participants in Lynden's community through most of the twentieth century.
And it's his community work for which D. J. Zylstra is most remembered. Besides helping establish the Christian Reformed Church and the Lynden Christian School, he helped organize the Monumenta Cemetery Association and the Burial Society, which bought the land for Lynden's "new" cemetery (new in the early 1900s) on the north side of Front Street. He was active in other community and church affairs as well.
Zylstra died on December 24, 1943. Thanks in part to his efforts, when a second wave of Dutch (some displaced by World War II) arrived in Lynden in the late 1940s and 1950s, there was a ready-made community waiting for them. Zylstra's legacy lives on through Lynden's churches and Christian schools; historian Nelson describes him as "truly a giant in his time" (A History of Lynden, 110).
