Tompkinsville : North America’s first housing co-operative

The builders and their families named their community “Tompkinsville” to honour Father Jimmy Tompkins, the man who had encouraged their co-operative spirit. Theirs was the first housing co-operative development in North America.

Father Marrocco had attended St. Francis Xavier University in 1947–1948 and knew both Coady and Tompkins. The Co-operative Method was a vital part of the teachings of all three men. For Father Marrocco, who would go on to teach in Ottawa, it was preparation for the important work he would come to do in the homebuilding co-operatives.