It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about 90 miles east-northeast of Chicago. Landmarks include St. Joseph County, Farrand Hall and Marantette House. St. Joseph is the birthplace of Kate Upton, model and actress.
St. Joseph, Michigan gifts and souvenirs: 40 designs made from St. Joseph's own map, landmarks and history, from $10 to $99. Printed to order and shipped free in the USA.
| Popular | Price |
|---|---|
| St. Joseph Hometown Ornament | $23 |
| St. Joseph Landmarks Photo Poster | from $40 |
| St. Joseph Vintage Travel Poster | from $40 |
| St. Joseph Varsity Crewneck | from $57 |
| St. Joseph Est. Tee | from $33 |
| St. Joseph Town Line Mug | from $26 |
Ceramic keepsake, gold ribbon, in 4 styles
Nine local landmarks, archival matte
Its landmark photo in a classic travel-poster layout
A local landmark photo as a gallery print
Classic large-letter postcard art, filled with local photos
Six local landmarks as instant photos on kraft paper
The town's story in dates, from its own records, for home or classroom
Map of local landmarks, washable fabric
Heavy-blend fleece, street map printed on the back
Red heavy-blend crewneck, knit-stitch town print
Soft Bella+Canvas jersey
Kids' Bella+Canvas jersey, youth sizes
Bella+Canvas toddler jersey
Bella+Canvas baby bodysuit
Large-letter postcard art filled with local photos
Glossy ceramic, dishwasher safe
Large-letter postcard art filled with local photos, 11 oz ceramic
Weatherproof, for the front walk
24″×16″, printed coir-look fibers, rubber back
12″×12″ printed wood, ready to hang
Soft-touch, zip cover
A local landmark photo with the town name, 18″×18″
Sturdy all-over-print tote
Large-letter postcard art on a sturdy tote
Foam-front trucker, printed (not embroidered) with local photos
Glossy top, cork back
Soft fleece, 50″×60″
Six local landmarks as instant photos, soft fleece 50″×60″
20 oz, double-wall stainless
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
From the Library of Congress collections: a historic survey drawing or photograph of the town
From the Library of Congress collections: a historic survey drawing or photograph of the town
From the Library of Congress collections: a historic survey drawing or photograph of the town
From the Library of Congress collections: a historic survey drawing or photograph of the town
From the Library of Congress collections: a historic survey drawing or photograph of the town
Named for Saint Joseph (Christian saint; husband of Mary and father of Jesus).
Population 2010: 8,365 → 2020: 7,856
From Wikidata (CC0).
The mouth of the Saint Joseph River at present day Saint Joseph was an important point of Miami and Potawatomi travel and commerce, as it lay along a key water route between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Both the Miami and Potawatomi used this route and would use the area as a camp. The St. Joseph River also allowed for connection with the Sauk Trail, which was the major land trail through Michigan. In 1669, the mouth of the river was seen by European explorers. French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, built Fort Miami on the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. In 1678, he waited for the ship Le Griffon, which never returned. Once the ship was deemed lost, La Salle and his men made the first land crossing of the lower peninsula by Europeans.
The next permanent white settler in Saint Joseph was William Burnett, who around 1780 started a trading post at the mouth of the Saint Joseph River. The post traded food, furs and goods with places including Detroit, Mackinac and Chicago. In 1829, Calvin Britain, who had come from Jefferson County, New York, and had taught at the Carey Mission at Niles for two years, came to the site of Saint Joseph. Shortly thereafter, he laid out the plat of the village, then known as Newburyport, named after a coastal city in Massachusetts. Britain was influential in attracting other settlers to the area. Lots sold rapidly and the village flourished.
The Saint Joseph river mouth was straightened through a channel and piers were added later. The first lighthouse in Saint Joseph contends with Chicago's original lighthouse as the first to be built on Lake Michigan. Newburyport changed its name to St. Joseph when it was incorporated on March 7, 1834. The city was incorporated June 5, 1891. It was reported in 2026 that the same year, a merger had been attempted between St. Joseph and Benton Harbor.
The first water route across Lake Michigan between Saint Joseph and Chicago began as a mail route in 1825, but service was sporadic until 1842 when Samuel and Eber Ward began a permanent service. That lasted eleven years. Before the rise of large ship companies on Lake Michigan, service was done primarily by owner-operated boats. With the rise in shipping in Benton Harbor and the rise in tourism in Saint Joseph, permanent and larger operations began operating out of the ports. The creation of the River Yacht Club in 1913 allowed expanded use of sailboats in the area.
In 1876 the United States Lifesaving Service built a Lifesaving Station at Saint Joseph, appointing Joseph Napier as the first stationkeeper.
After a bitterly fought political contest, Saint Joseph was named the seat of Berrien County in 1894, when Berrien Springs relinquished that status. The three largest towns in the county, Benton Harbor, Saint Joseph, and Niles, each wanted to be the county seat, but none had a majority vote. Once St. Joseph and Benton Harbor voters combined their votes, St. Joseph had enough to win.
On October 11, 1898, Augustus Moore Herring took one of his gliders, fitted with a motor, to Silver Beach in Saint Joseph. Herring's machine lifted ever so slightly off the ground and actually flew for seven seconds. Eleven days later, the inventor made another flight of ten seconds. While Herring had a powered heavier-than-air craft, he did not have a way to control it. It was left to the Wright brothers to perfect controlled flight five years later, and give themselves and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a place in history that might have ended up belonging to Herring and Saint Joseph.
Two major shipping companies operated between Saint Joseph and Chicago during the last half of the 19th century, the Goodrich Transportation Company and the local firm of Graham and Morton. They dominated the traffic at St. Joseph for more than 100 years, although other smaller companies did operate during this time.
Starting in 1874, Henry Graham and J. Stanley Morton began operating a steam line out of St. Joseph. Their collaboration would become the Graham and Morton Transportation Company. Through vigorous competition, they won the war to become the major carrier out of Saint Joseph. Goodrich stopped service to the Twin Cities in 1880. The company grew quickly and over the fifty plus years of its existence became the second largest line on Lake Michigan, behind only Goodrich.
In 1924, as graded roads began to line the Lake Michigan shoreline, G & M was forced to merge into Goodrich. Like most other ports along Lake Michigan, Saint Joseph saw a large drop in traffic during the early years of the twentieth century, which was exacerbated further by the Great Depression. The route between Chicago and St. Joseph survived until the 1950s.
On January 29, 1870, the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad extended a rail line from New Buffalo to St. Joseph. This railroad connected Saint Joseph to Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Detroit and Chicago. (Prior to this, the only connection Saint Joseph had to these other cities was by water.) The line was reorganized as the Chicago and West Michigan Railway and then was incorporated into the Pere Marquette Railroad. Nowadays it is recognized as the CSX Grand Rapids Subdivision which runs from Chicago, IL to Grand Rapids, MI along the former Pere Marquette Railroad. Passenger Rail Service is provided by Amtrak's "Pere Marquette" service running from Chicago, IL to Grand Rapids, MI, with stops in St. Joseph, Bangor, Holland, and Grand Rapids. Service is offered with one daily round trip.
In 1892, Truscott Boat Manufacturing Co moved to Saint Joseph from Grand Rapids. In the early 20th Century, the company was the largest employer in St. Joseph with 700 employees and built 600 wooden boats per year. The company built boats for the government in World War I, struggled during the Depression, was sold in 1940, revived during World War II to build ships for the Navy and went bankrupt in 1948.
In 1911, Louis, Emory, and Frederick Upton began a business that produced household washing machines. The business soon became a boom and has continued to grow to this day. In 1929, Upton Machine Company merged with Nineteen Hundred Corp., taking the latter name. The company began marketing a line of appliances known as the "Whirlpool" brand in 1948. Within the next decade, Nineteen Hundred changed its name to Whirlpool. Today, Whirlpool Corporation is the largest manufacturer of major home appliances and maintains a large presence in Benton Harbor and nearby Saint Joseph. Whirlpool has its world headquarters in Benton Harbor.
In 1891 the Silver Beach Amusement Park was opened on land between the lake and mouth of the river in Saint Joseph. Logan Drake and Louis Wallace bought the land from the Pere Marquette Railroad and added cottages to lure tourists to the lake front. As the park aged and grew in popularity, the pair added many attractions, including concessions, games, pool, a boardwalk and different rides. The first roller coaster was built in 1904 and was called the Chase Through the Clouds, which was replaced by the Velvet roller coaster (renamed the Comet). Among the most popular attractions were the carousel and the Shadowland Ballroom, built in 1927. During the 1960s and 1970s, the buildings decayed and the crowds decreased. Finally, crime in the park led police to shut it down in 1970.
Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article St. Joseph, Michigan, revision 1379135354 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
We share a part of every St. Joseph sale with local partners, and we'd love to print from your collection. Old photographs, maps and postcards make the best keepsakes.
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15 free coloring pages of St. Joseph, each traced from a photo of a local landmark. Print them at home, at school or for story hour.
St. Joseph's population was 7,856 in the 2020 U.S. Census, down from 8,365 in 2010.
Farrand Hall
St. Joseph County
Rocky River
Portage River