Michigan, Berrien County, St. Joseph
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The meeting of river and lake provided a natural setting for a harbor at St. Joseph. Human engineering would ultimately develop the port into one of the busiest on Lake Michigan.
In the 1830s, at the urging of local merchants, the U.S. Corps of Engineers removed a large sandbar and built protective piers on either side of the river mouth. By 1838, the swampy river entrance was transformed into a thriving port, rivaling the maritime trade of Chicago.
Regular dredging, pier maintenance and lighthouses keep the harbor accessible for commercial and recreational traffic.
(Photo and Drawing Captions)
Making a harbor from the narrow river mouth required extensive engineering. This 1839 drawing proposes the extension of piers, changing the river's course and depth.
MAP: The Heritage Museum and Cultural Center
The harbor has been continually updated to accommodate the growing size of commercial vessels. This aerial view shows the harbor in 2007.
Photo: Denise Reeves
Private investors expanded the port in the 1860s by digging the Benton Harbor Ship Canal, making it one of West Michigan's busiest harbors.
Photo: The Heritage Museum and Cultural Center
(Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
The meeting of river and lake provided a natural setting for a harbor at St. Joseph. Human engineering would ultimately develop the port into one of the busiest on Lake Michigan.
In the 1830s, at the urging of local merchants, the U.S. Corps of Engineers removed a large sandbar and built protective piers on either side of the river mouth. By 1838, the swampy river entrance was transformed into a thriving port, rivaling the maritime trade of Chicago.
Regular dredging, pier maintenance and lighthouses keep the harbor accessible for commercial and recreational traffic.
(Photo and Drawing Captions)
Making a harbor from the narrow river mouth required extensive engineering. This 1839 drawing proposes the extension of piers, changing the river's course and depth.
MAP: The Heritage Museum and Cultural Center
The harbor has been continually updated to accommodate the growing size of commercial vessels. This aerial view shows the harbor in 2007.
Photo: Denise Reeves
Private investors expanded the port in the 1860s by digging the Benton Harbor Ship Canal, making it one of West Michigan's busiest harbors.
Photo: The Heritage Museum and Cultural Center
(Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
The Butterfield Overland Mail was a mail and passenger stagecoach service that linked the Western and Eastern states. John Butterfield, president of the Overland Mail Company, won a federal government contact in 1857 to take and deliver mail twice weekly in both directions between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California. The service ran from September 1858 until March 1861, when events leading to the Civil War ended its operations.
Sebastion Spering Kresge founded the firm in 1899 in Detroit. His guidance during its formative years was responsible for its initial success. By 1916, when it was incorporated in Michigan, the company numbered 150 units. Innovative and careful management insured its continued growth. Since the introduction of the rapidly expanding K mart division in 1962, the firm has become one of the world's leading mercantile chains. In 1972 the firm's international headquarters was located here.
(obverse)
Site of office building which housed prominent African-American physicians and pharmacy. Among the doctors who practiced here between 1909 and 1930 were Obed Cooley; Nathaniel J. Ridley; J.C. Coleman; John Hunter, first African-American surgeon at St. Joseph's Hospital; and Joseph Laine, who later founded a medical clinic in Louisville. 
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Here Henry Stoner and his sons Nick and John held the cabin against the Tory and Indian raiders who burned Broadalbin, June 1778.
On this site in 1916 Wm c. Brower invented and patented the first sap gravity flow tubing system from tree to sugar house for making maple syrup
On this site, 4 July 1823, Padre Altimira, Lt. Castro and 19 armed men erected a cross, set a camp altar, consecrated the ground with a mass and fired a volley. Cline Ranch was then used as a preliminary scouting site and departure point for Northern California exploration. Coast Miwoks would later build a permanent mission in Sonoma. Bricks used in the nearby shrine are from Sonoma Mission; the 21st and last of the California Missions.
In grateful tribute to all men and women of this area who have or will serve in defense of our country.
The Josephine Mine was an integral part of the 1849 California Gold Rush and remained in operation until 1937. This cemetery is the final resting place of some of the pioneers that forged the western frontier and veterans of early American wars. The cemetery and the surrounding property were donated to the Native Sons of the Golden West - Georgetown Parlor #91 by Vera Fraser on February 11, 1974 to ensure its stewardship and preservation.
