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1669 - St. Joesph Construction of Fort Miami  (SP)

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1669 - St. Joesph Construction of Fort Miami  (SP)

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St. Joseph's history began almost 100 years before the American Revolution when the mouth of the St. Joseph River was discovered and documented in 1669. Ten years later, the explorer LaSalle and his 14 men cleared a piece of land and started the construction of Fort Miami on the bluff around the St. Joseph River. LaSalle's stay was not long however, and the area was mostly populated by Native Americans, trappers and soldiers until 1785 when William Burnett established a trading post and became the first permanent settler.

The Carey Mission Treaty of 1828 opened the area to commerce and St. Joseph began to grow. In 1829, the area's first full-time resident, New Yorker Calvin Britain, made the long trek to southwest Michigan. As the port of St. Joseph prospered, it became the principal transportation artery for the entire region. The settlement grew into a village originally called Newberryport in honor of a prominent businessman.

Today, St. Joseph is nestled on the southern tip of what has been termed "The Riviera of the Midwest." This deepwater port town is a growing resort community - part of a "small town" chain stretching from the state line in a spectacular arc along Lake Michigan. Grain, wool, maple sugar, furs, and lumber, tools, hardware and furniture are shipped in and out of the river's mouth. The St. Joseph Lighthouse stands in the midst of activity as boaters, fishermen and water-skiers take advantage of Lake Michigan.

In 1860, wooden sidewalks were built. Since then, downtown St. Joseph, while still maintaining some of its older storefronts, has changed tenfold. Located just 90 miles from downtown Chicago, St. Joseph is a community of 8,800 people situated within the larger Benton Harbor/St. Joseph MSA of 162,000 people. The City of St. Joseph has continually operated at full economic capacity, with citywide unemployment rates typically hovering around 2%.

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St. Joseph's history began almost 100 years before the American Revolution when the mouth of the St. Joseph River was discovered and documented in 1669. Ten years later, the explorer LaSalle and his 14 men cleared a piece of land and started the construction of Fort Miami on the bluff around the St.

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1785 - First permanent Settler in St. Joseph - William Burnett - established trading post(SP)

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1785 - First permanent Settler in St. Joseph - William Burnett - established trading post(SP)

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The area was mostly populated by Native Americans, trappers, and soldiers until 1785 when William Burnett established a trading post and became the first permanent settler.

https://www.sjcity.com/community/page/history

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St. Joseph's history began almost 100 years before the American Revolution when the mouth of the St. Joseph River was discovered and documented in 1669. Ten years later, the explorer LaSalle and his 14 men cleared a piece of land and started the construction of Fort Miami on the bluff around the St. Joseph River. LaSalle's stay was not long however, and the area was mostly populated by Native Americans, trappers and soldiers until 1785 when William Burnett established a trading post and became the first permanent settler.

The Carey Mission Treaty of 1828 opened the area to commerce and St. Joseph began to grow. In 1829, the area's first full-time resident, New Yorker Calvin Britain, made the long trek to southwest Michigan. As the port of St. Joseph prospered, it became the principal transportation artery for the entire region. The settlement grew into a village originally called Newberryport in honor of a prominent businessman.

Today, St. Joseph is nestled on the southern tip of what has been termed "The Riviera of the Midwest." This deepwater port town is a growing resort community - part of a "small town" chain stretching from the state line in a spectacular arc along Lake Michigan. Grain, wool, maple sugar, furs, and lumber, tools, hardware and furniture are shipped in and out of the river's mouth. The St. Joseph Lighthouse stands in the midst of activity as boaters, fishermen and water-skiers take advantage of Lake Michigan.

In 1860, wooden sidewalks were built. Since then, downtown St. Joseph, while still maintaining some of its older storefronts, has changed tenfold. Located just 90 miles from downtown Chicago, St. Joseph is a community of 8,800 people situated within the larger Benton Harbor/St. Joseph MSA of 162,000 people. The City of St. Joseph has continually operated at full economic capacity, with citywide unemployment rates typically hovering around 2%.

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St. Joseph's history began almost 100 years before the American Revolution when the mouth of the St. Joseph River was discovered and documented in 1669. Ten years later, the explorer LaSalle and his 14 men cleared a piece of land and started the construction of Fort Miami on the bluff around the St.

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1828 - The Carey Mission Treaty (SP) (MJ)

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1828 - The Carey Mission Treaty (SP) (MJ)

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Originally declined due to the U.S. policy of Indian Removal in 1827. Established with the Potawatomi Tribe on the St. Joseph River in 1828.

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1860 - Benton Harbor - founded as "Brunson Harbor" (SP)

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1860 - Benton Harbor - founded as "Brunson Harbor" (SP)

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1849 - First Home Built

1865 - Renamed Benton Harbor

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Sitting in Benton Harbor's oldest home, a space built in 1849 that's filled with the echoes of history, Morton House Museum Board President Denise Reeves and Board Trustee Kate Ulrey scanned the rooms in front of them: expansive, tall-ceilinged places filled with concrete reminders of the people who once called the Southwest Michigan city home.

For Reeves and Ulrey, these are rooms that are not only reminiscent of the past - of the Morton family who built the house and were instrumental in establishing and growing Benton Harbor - but of the future of their museum , which has called the building home since the early 1960s.

It's a future, they explained in an interview earlier this month, that involves the space increasingly becoming a cultural hub centered around deep dives into the city's history - and discussions around what that history means for today's Benton Harbor, where an entire city cannot drink its tap water because of high levels of lead and where nearly half the population lives in poverty.

In a home that has known the pain of a mother dying from childbirth and parents losing their children, the museum's leaders want to connect that history, as well as the more uplifting stories, with those who are struggling in the city today. They want people to see themselves reflected in the history of Benton Harbor, and to connect with the themes they see weaving throughout the city's narrative: perseverance, strength and finding the support of community amid life's deep trials.

"We've had problems; we've had struggles," Ulrey said of Benton Harbor. "But we can overcome them."

Already, the museum offers permanent and revolving exhibits and lecture series, publishes books about Benton Harbor's history, and allows the public to access its historical books for research (or pleasure) - and board members dream of it further becoming a site that draws anyone who wants to learn about Benton Harbor.

"We want it to be the home of Benton Harbor history; we want to make sure people know to come here for facts and information about Benton Harbor," Reeves, who has been working as a volunteer with the museum for 33 years, said, her face framed by an ornate wooden chair that once sat on a ship carrying tourists from Chicago to Benton Harbor. "Hopefully, more people will realize the importance of Benton Harbor's history."

It will, the board members explained, be a space filled with inclusive narratives in which everyone in Benton Harbor can see themselves reflected, from Black families whose relatives moved to the area for manufacturing jobs during the Great Migration of the 1960s to those whose ancestors worked on the farms that vaulted the area to being the heart of the Midwestern .

"We want to bring recognition of Benton Harbor's past and say, 'Hey, it was and is a great community," Ulrey said. "It's where we want people to come and talk about their history and be a part of their history. We want to make it someplace people seek out for history and to tell their histories."

The Morton family

Originally from the East Coast, the Morton family was drawn to the Midwest for economic reasons - Eleazar Morton, who built the Benton Harbor home with his son, Henry Morton, was one of the first members of his immediate family to head west and worked on the Erie Canal before moving with his wife, Joanna, and their 10 children to what is now known as Benton Harbor in 1835. [Benton Harbor was first founded as Brunson Harbor in 1860 and was renamed Benton Harbor in 1865.] There, he ended up owning 500 acres of land on which he grew peaches.

At first, the Morton family (distant relatives of the Mortons who started Morton Salt and founded the Morton Arboretum in Illinois) lived in a log cabin in Benton Harbor, not far from where they'd build the house that has become the museum. Located on Territorial Road - Michigan's main east to west artery in the 1830s - the Morton family's cabin became something of an unofficial inn for countless travelers heading West.

"They wound up adding a second floor on their log cabin because so many people wanted to stay there," Ulrey said. "They would give food and shelter to people who were traveling."

In 1849, the family constructed their new house at the address now known as 501 Territorial Rd. in Benton Harbor and members of the family went on to become heavily involved in expanding the city and its industries. James Stanley Morton, Henry Morton's son and Eleazar Morton's grandson, for example, helped to co-found a steamship firm, the Graham and Morton Transportation Company, that allowed area farms to ship their vast amounts of produce, as well as bring Chicago tourists to relax along Lake Michigan, upon which Benton Harbor sits.

The house itself was filled not just with the Morton family but often with travelers, as their log cabin had been, and others coming to Benton Harbor. The museum board members noted one such person was a man from Chicago who traveled to Benton Harbor to dig the ship canal that prompted the "city to really boom," Reeves said.

It was a home filled with growth and entrepreneurship, of all that which comes with family and business and travel: boisterous dinners and laughter and music. But, Reeves and Ulrey noted, the Morton family's story was also filled with a deep understanding of the fragility of life. Josephine Morton, whose husband was Henry Morton, died of childbirth complications, for example, and James Stanley Morton and his wife, Carrie, had four children - only two of whom survived infancy. They then lived to be adults but died before their parents.

Among a wide array of items from the family in the museum - from photos to journal writings - is the telegram sent to James Stanley Morton notifying him that one of his adult sons, Will, had died.

"The highs were really high, and the lows were really low," Ulrey said. "But it made for people who were strong, and it made for people who cared for others."

Members of the Morton family lived in the house until their passing the 1930s; James Stanley Morton died in 1936 and Carrie Morton died in 1937. James Stanley Morton deeded the house to the Federation of Women's Clubs in honor of his mother, Josephine Morton. The federation was a local philanthropic organization that went on to use the home as a club house before opening it as a museum in the early 1960s.

'A history of overcoming'

As Benton Harbor residents now face lead-tainted drinking water - state officials have told everyone in the city not to drink the water because of dangerously high levels of lead - board members hope a connection with the past can bring individuals a sense of pride in the community as they rebuild from a long history of disinvestment and disenfranchisement.

And it's not just a sense of pride they hope to instill - they want the museum to provide racially inclusive histories of everyone in the community and amplify histories of Black leaders from Benton Harbor. (The board members also noted that while many historical museums have had to deal with racist pasts of slavery and slave owners, there's written documentation that Eleazar Morton advocated against slavery and the family never owned slaves.)

They understand there's work to be done, including within the board itself - a predominantly white group of people in a city that's 85% Black. And they acknowledge that there can be a disconnect between the history of the Mortons, a white and well-off family, and today's city residents, nearly half of whom live in poverty.

But they also strongly believe there are important connections that can and should be made, and Reeves said the museum members have been having intentional conversations around this in recent years. To further foster a relationship with the community, Reeves said they held a lawn party before the pandemic that was well attended by a diverse group of residents. Before the pandemic, school groups would also often visit the museum, which board members said provided an important connection to the community.

"It's harder now, with no field trips, no school close by; there are a lot of stumbling blocks," Reeves said. "But it doesn't mean we've stopped trying for sure. We all know that connection is important and why history is important. It's being able to deliver it in a way that gets to everybody. We've got people in St. Joe afraid to cross the bridge. We're facing an uphill battle."

St. Joseph, where both Reeves and Ulrey live, is Benton Harbor's wealthier neighbor that's a predominantly white community. While Benton Harbor was once the city that drew the majority of the tourists, St. Joseph - often colloquially referred to as St. Joe - has now taken that spot. To get to either city from the other, people have to cross a bridge traversing the St. Joseph River.

It's this idea of crossing the bridge - literally and metaphorically - that Reeves and Ulrey focus on, and the two emphasized that they want the museum to be something of a community cheerleader. They want it to be a place both of joy and introspection, a space that can delve into pain of the past - and connect that to the pain of today - while also focusing on both historical and present accomplishments.

"I think that Benton Harbor has had a history of overcoming," Ulrey said. "I think the message for Benton Harbor as we struggle is just that: we have a history of overcoming. We have a history of strong, unique individuals here."

In addition to becoming more racially diverse, Ulrey and Reeves said they'd love to see younger people become involved in the museum.

"I would love to see more young families enjoy the Morton house, use the Morton house as a gathering place," Ulrey said. "We want to have more old fashioned socials on the lawn. I have visions of that. For the board, we've had a cocktail party - I'd like to see that for the community."

'The thing about history is it's always disappearing'

Walking through the museum itself is a collision with the past; each room is filled with antiques, including items owned by the Morton family and other period pieces reminiscent of the time in which the family lived in the home.

Among a Morton family journal filled with writings mostly focused on the daily weather, clothing from the 1800s, and black and white photographs faded by time, the museum is an often poignant reminder not just of this specific family but of the inevitable passing of time.

"The thing about history is it's always disappearing," Ulrey said.

Still, some stories live on, even after the people in them are long gone. And, the board members said, they'll continue to tell them, as long as people want to hear them.

And while the stories are from the past, they're not static, Reeves and Ulrey emphasized. Each year, the museum's volunteers research and publish a book about Benton Harbor's history. They then present an exhibit around that topic and hold a lecture series dedicated to exploring it further. This year, for example, they're delving into the history of the city's ship canal and the role it played in growing the area. Last year, they published a book about a fatal fire at Yore's Opera House in 1896, when 12 firemen - seven from Benton Harbor and five from St. Joseph - were killed trying to extinguish the blaze.

To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the fire, the museum held this past September at the site where the opera house once stood in Benton Harbor. At that time, the Engine House No. 5 Fire Museum in Allendale lent the fire truck that was on site the day of the opera house fire for the ceremony. A few actors told the story of the fire from the viewpoint of the fire chiefs, and current firefighters attended the event.

"The firemen were very touched," Ulrey said.

It's these stories that the museum is determined to keep telling, the board members said: ones that remind us that, amid pain and death, there is community. There will always be people who will jump to help in the midst of flames, who will open the door to their home and say: Welcome.

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'A history of overcoming' in Benton Harbor ⋆ Michigan Advance

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Sitting in Benton Harbor's oldest home, a space built in 1849 that's filled with the echoes of history, Morton House Museum Board President Denise Reeves and Board Trustee Kate Ulrey scanned the rooms in front of them: expansive, tall-ceilinged places filled with concrete reminders of the people who once called the Southwest Michigan city home.

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1891- Benton Harbor incorporated as a city (MJ)

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1891- Benton Harbor incorporated as a city (MJ)

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Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles-Benton Harbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with 156,813 people. Benton Harbor and the city of St. Joseph are separated by the St. Joseph River and are known locally as the " Twin Cities". Fairplain and Benton Heights are unincorporated areas adjacent to Benton Harbor.

Benton Harbor was founded by Henry C. Morton, Sterne Brunson and Charles Hull, who all now have or have had schools named after them. Benton Harbor was mainly wetlands bordered by the Paw Paw River, through which a canal was built, hence the "harbor" in the city's name. In 1860, the village was laid out by Brunson, Morton, Hull and others, and given the name Brunson Harbor.

Brunson, Morton, and Hull also donated land and solicited subscriptions for construction of the canal, which was completed in 1862. It had long been recognized that a canal would be crucial to the town's development, both to drain the marsh and to provide a berthing area for ships. The canal, originally 25 feet (7.6 m) wide but expanded to 50 feet (15 m) in 1868, led to the town's becoming a shipping and manufacturing center for the area.

In 1866, the settlement's name was changed to Benton Harbor in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, a Missouri Senator who helped Michigan achieve statehood. In 1836, Benton Harbor was organized as a village and in 1891 it was incorporated as a city.

Benton Harbor's retail establishments started relocating outside of the city starting in the 1950s, and the city experienced an economic downturn between 1970 and 1985.

The House of David religious group was founded there and once ran a local amusement park.

Benton Harbor has had two major riots, one in 1966 and one in 2003, with smaller ones occurring in 1960, 1967, and 1990.

On August 30, 1966, a riot began after a meeting discussing recreational facilities and police relations with respect to black residents. During the riot, a black 18-year-old named Cecil Hunt was killed in a drive-by shooting; suspects were arrested but the assault charge was later dismissed. Governor George W. Romney dispatched troops from the Michigan National Guard, who stood down on September 5 when the riot dissipated.

In June 2003, several citizens in Benton Harbor demonstrated for two days when black motorcyclist Terrance Shurn, being chased by a police officer, crashed into a building and died. As many as 300 state troopers and law enforcement personnel from neighboring communities were called to Benton Harbor.

Indirectly, the riot contributed to the Jimmy Carter Work Project's 2005 activities being held in Benton Harbor and Detroit. A state task force produced a report in 2003.

As with the 2014-2019 public health crisis involving the drinking water in Flint, in 2018 higher-than-acceptable levels of lead were found in Benton Harbor's tap water. Water was starting to appear "bubbly and white" to "brown", with a "horrible" taste and poor smell. This was due to lead-based water service lines. Testing found the samples returned lead levels of 22 parts per billion, greater than the 20 parts per billion in Flint and the federal lead action level of 15 parts per billion. High levels of copper were also noted in the annual consumer confidence reports that have been required by Environmental Protection Agency.

Concerns were with the health impacts of lead poisoning. As a result, residents were supplied with free bottled water, including for use with brushing teeth and cooking, for residences and schools. In September 2021, $10 million was budgeted to replace the lead service lines.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 4.68 square miles (12.12 km ²), of which 4.43 square miles (11.47 km ²) is land and 0.25 square miles (0.65 km ²) is water.

Benton Harbor has a humid continental climate ( Köppen: Dfa) that has very warm summers for the type and also less cold winters than many climates of the classification. Due to lake-effect snow there is very high snowfall relative to precipitation in winter, but far lower than some locations that are farther north in the state. Summer high temperatures range from 77 to 83 °F (25 to 28 °C) from June to August, but the apparent heat is normally moderated by mild nights.

As of the census of 2010, there were 10,038 people, 3,548 households, and 2,335 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,265.9 inhabitants per square mile (874.9/km ²). There were 4,329 housing units at an average density of 977.2 per square mile (377.3/km ²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.2% African American, 7.0% White, 0.3% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.2% of the population.

There were 3,548 households, of which 44.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 17.0% were married couples living together, 43.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.2% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.41.

The median age in the city was 28.3 years. 35.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.5% were from 25 to 44; 22.2% were from 45 to 64; and 7.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.5% male and 53.5% female.

At the 2000 census, there were 11,182 people, 3,767 households and 2,557 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,545.7 inhabitants per square mile (982.9/km ²). There were 4,492 housing units at an average density of 1,022.7 per square mile (394.9/km ²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.40% African American, 5.48% White, 0.15% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.58% of the population.

There were 3,767 households, of which 42.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 20.8% were married couples living together, 42.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.53.

Age distribution was 39.6% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.7 males.

The median household income was $17,471, and the median family income was $19,250. Males had a median income of $27,154 versus $20,105 for females. The per capita income for the city was $8,965, the lowest in Michigan. About 39.6% of families and 42.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 52.5% of those under age 18 and 29.7% of those age 65 or over.

The Michigan Treasury Department in 2009 sent a team to look into the city's finances. The team's report was a long list of mismanagement to the point that budgets were "effectively meaningless as a financial management tool." The city was $10 million underfunded in its pension fund and increasing budget deficits. In April 2010, Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm appointed Joseph Harris as Emergency Financial Manager. City staff was reduced by 30 to 70.

Benton Harbor City Hall

Harris was given expanded powers under a new law signed in March 2011 by Republican Governor Rick Snyder. Harris was previously the chief financial officer for the city of Detroit. On April 14, 2011, Harris suspended the decision-making powers of Benton Harbor's elected city officials, who can hold meetings but are not allowed to govern. The Michigan AFL-CIO president called the move "sad news for democracy in Michigan", but at least one city official, City Commissioner Bryan Joseph, supported it, saying the city had been mismanaged for decades.

On January 4, 2012, city commissioners Marcus Muhammad and MaryAlice Adams held a press conference where they stated that if there was still an emergency financial manager administering the city when Benton Harbor hosted the Senior PGA Championship in May, an " Occupy PGA movement should sit in on the golf greens and driving ranges in protest." Occupy PGA did hold protest marches on multiple days during the tournament, but did not disrupt the tournament.

On January 11, 2013, the Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board (ELB) voted to replace Harris as the Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) for the city. On February 1, 2013, the ELB appointed Tony R. Saunders II as the youngest Successor-Emergency Financial Manager for the city of Benton Harbor.

Library service for the city is provided by the Benton Harbor Public Library.

The town has a police department.

The city is served by two institutions, Benton Harbor Area Schools within the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency, and Lake Michigan College, a two-year community college just east of Benton Harbor.

Whirlpool Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of major home appliances, has its corporate headquarters in nearby Benton Charter Township, along with a new Riverview campus near the St. Joseph River in Benton Harbor and the Technical Center in St. Joseph.

Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO) is a political and social justice coalition working in Benton Harbor.

I-94 bypasses the city to the east and south, connecting with Kalamazoo and Detroit to the east and with Michigan City, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, to the south and southwest.

BL I-94 travels through the downtowns of both Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. It mostly follows the former route of US 12.

I-196 begins nearby in Benton Township and continues northerly toward Holland, ending at Grand Rapids.

US 31 is currently a freeway (the St. Joseph Valley Parkway) from the Indiana border north, entering a partial cloverleaf with Main St. and I-94 connecting downtown Benton Harbor with US 31

M-63 serves as a loop route connecting with I-196 at the north and running through downtown St. Joseph. M-63 continues on to I-94 and then to M-139, where it ends. M-63 follows the former route of US 33.

M-139 begins at US 12 near Niles and terminates at BL I-94 on the Benton Harbor-Benton Township border (the northbound direction terminates wholly within Benton Township). M-139 follows a former route of US 31 south of I-94.

Spanning the Paw Paw River and providing an additional connection to St. Joseph, the Charles Freeman Joseph bridge on Whitwam Drive, is named for Benton Harbor's first black mayor, opened in late 2005.

The Amtrak station in St. Joseph is served daily by Amtrak's Pere Marquette passenger train.

Twin Cities Area Transportation Authority (TCATA) provides bus transit throughout Benton Harbor and the surrounding areas. Originally strictly a dial-a-ride service, it has recently expanded to include three fixed routes-Red Route, Green Route and Blue Route. Red Route serves Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, St. Joseph Charter Township, Lincoln Township, and Royalton Township. Blue and Green routes operate throughout Benton Harbor and Benton Township.

Southwest Michigan Regional Airport provides non-commercial air service.

Both Benton Harbor and neighboring St. Joseph are commercial ports that receive bulk goods from lake freighters.

Benton Harbor is served by The Herald-Palladium newspaper, whose offices are in nearby St. Joseph Township, and is part of the South Bend/Elkhart television market. The Benton Spirit community newspaper has also served the community for the past 10 years. The paper was acknowledged by former Governor Granholm's 2003 Benton Harbor Task Force Report as a key communications stakeholder that "proactively assists in the total development of Benton Harbor". Benton Harbor is served by sister radio stations WCXT, WCSY-FM, WQLQ, WIRX, WQYQ, WSJM-FM, and WYTZ, as well as WHFB and some in the South Bend market. Additionally, most of the Chicago market TV and radio stations are available from 60 miles (97 km) across the lake.

The Morton House in Benton Harbor

Sites of interest in Benton Harbor are Shiloh House, built in 1910, which served as the administration building and men's dormitory for the House of David colony, a communal religious group; Morton House (on Morton Hill), built in 1849 by Eleazar Morton, which now houses a museum; Jean Klock Park on Lake Michigan; and the Golf Club at Harbor Shores. In neighboring Benton Township is a large fruit market that replaced the fruit market in the "flats" area of Benton Harbor, which was torn down during an urban renewal project in 1967.

The main shopping center is The Orchards Mall.

An American Basketball Association team (ABA), the Twin City Ballers, played in Benton Harbor for a few games in November 2006, but left the city due to poor attendance at games. Another ABA team, the Lake Michigan Admirals, began play in 2009. The Admirals switched from the ABA to join the Premiere Basketball League for the 2012 season.

Jack Dempsey defended his heavyweight title on September 6, 1920, in Benton Harbor, defeating Billy Miske.

The city hosts the Maytag Ironman 70.3 Steelhead triathlon, a qualifying event for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.

The city is the birthplace of Iris Kyle, the most successful professional bodybuilder ever, with ten overall Ms. Olympia wins and two heavyweight wins, along with seven Ms. International wins and one heavyweight win.

Arts district downtown

Benton Harbor co-hosts the annual Blossomtime Festival with St. Joseph.

Vearne C. Babcock - member of the Early Birds of Aviation

Joique Bell - NFL football player for Detroit Lions

Bill Berry - jazz trumpeter

Bobo Brazil - professional wrestler

Wilson Chandler - NBA player for Philadelphia 76ers

Don Griffin - professional football player

Niki Haris - singer and daughter of Gene Harris

Clara Edmunds Hemingway - poet, singer, composer, editor

Don Hopkins - MLB player for Oakland A's

Arte Johnson - actor and comedian,

Julie Krone - jockey, first woman to win horse racing's Belmont Stakes

Iris Kyle - IFBB professional bodybuilder

Walker "Bud" Mahurin - U.S. Air Force officer

Jim "Dandy" Mangrum - lead vocalist, Black Oak Arkansas

Anthony Miller - professional basketball player

Charles Willard Moore - architect and AIA Gold Medal winner

Rome (Jerome Woods) - R&B singer

Sinbad (David Adkins) - actor and comedian

Ruth Terry - singer and actress

Robert L. Van Antwerp Jr. - U.S. Army Lieutenant General and Chief of Engineers

Chet Walker - NBA basketball player for Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls, 7-time All-Star, 2012 inductee in Basketball Hall of Fame

Lyman M. Ward - Union Army brigadier general

Wally Weber - U-M football player, assistant coach, Hall of Honor inductee

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Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles-Benton Harbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with 156,813 people.

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1891- St. Joseph incorporated as a city (MJ)

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1891- St. Joseph incorporated as a city (MJ)

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St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about 90 miles (140 km) east-northeast of Chicago. It is home of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

The mouth of the St. Joseph River at present day St. Joseph was an important point of Amerindian 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 1679, he waited for the ship , 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 St. Joseph was William Burnett, who around 1780 started a trading post at the mouth of the St. 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 St. 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 St. Joseph river mouth was straightened through a channel and piers were added later. The first lighthouse in St. 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.

The first water route across Lake Michigan between St. 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 St. Joseph, permanent and larger operations began operating out of the ports.

Original St Joseph Lifesaving Service boathouse, circa 1874.

The Coast Guard still maintains a station on this site. In 1876 the United States Lifesaving Service built a Lifesaving Station at St Joseph, appointing Joseph Napier as the first stationkeeper.

Downtown St. Joseph

Maritime Heritage Trail Park

After a bitterly fought political contest, St. 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, St. 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 St. 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 St. Joseph.

Two major shipping companies operated between St. 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 St. Joseph. Goodrich stopped service to the Twin Cities in 1880. The company grew fast 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, St. Joseph saw a huge drop in traffic during the early years of the twentieth century and this was exacerbated by the Great Depression. The route between Chicago and St. Joseph did survive 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 St. Joseph to Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Detroit and Chicago. (Prior to this, the only connection St. 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.

In 1892, Truscott Boat Manufacturing Co moved to St. 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 St. 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 St. 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.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.80 square miles (12.43 km ²), of which 3.22 square miles (8.34 km ²) is land and 1.58 square miles (4.09 km ²) is water.

As of the census of 2010, there were 8,365 people, 3,933 households, and 1,941 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,597.8 inhabitants per square mile (1,003.0/km ²). There were 4,795 housing units at an average density of 1,489.1 per square mile (574.9/km ²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.1% White, 5.3% African American, 0.3% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.8% of the population.

There were 3,933 households, of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.5% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 50.6% were non-families. 43.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.74.

The median age in the city was 41.6 years. 16.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.6% were from 25 to 44; 27.2% were from 45 to 64; and 18.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.8% male and 51.2% female.

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,789 people, 4,117 households, and 2,058 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,561.3 inhabitants per square mile (988.9/km ²). There were 4,594 housing units at an average density of 1,338.8 per square mile (516.9/km ²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.31% White, 5.11% African American, 0.41% Native American, 2.39% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.29% of the population.

There were 4,117 households, out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.0% were non-families. 44.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.99 and the average family size was 2.77.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.0% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,032, and the median income for a family was $51,328. Males had a median income of $36,250 versus $26,395 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,949. About 4.3% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

St. Joseph is cohost of the annual Blossomtime Festival with Benton Harbor.

The Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff is held in Lake Bluff Park every year on the weekend after the July 4 weekend.

The Concours d'Elegance of Southwest Michigan is held annually on the second Saturday in August. The inaugural show was held in 2005. An invitational fine car show, 75 vintage car owners are asked to show vehicles in St. Joseph's downtown Lake Bluff Park.

From 1979 to 2011, St. Joseph was the site of the Venetian Festival, which comprised three traditions: the Blessing of the River, the Lighted Boat Parade, and a Classic Boat Parade. The festival's name was a nod to similarities between St. Joseph and Venice, Italy.

In 1987, USS Oliver Hazard Perry came to port, and its commander let festival-goers take a free tour. This initiated a tradition whereby US Navy ships regularly came to the festival. Music also contributed to the festival's success, and was offered at three locations: the Bluff, Shadowland Pavilion, and the Main Stage. Many local musicians played at the Bluff and the Pavilion, while the Main Stage hosted such well-known bands as the Beach Boys, Cheap Trick, Gin Blossoms, Little Big Town, and Jason Michael Carroll.

In a study done by Michigan State University in 1998, approximately 63,000 people attended the 1997 Venetian Festival and the festival generated around $1.7 million in revenue to the local economy.

Competitions also took place along Silver Beach and the Saint Joseph River during the festival, including volleyball tournaments, a river run & walk, and sand sculpturing. The Lighted Boat Parade and the Classic Boat Display both took place along the St. Joseph River and were a part of the Venetian Festival since 1987. Fireworks and rides were also attractions, bringing people from bigger cities such as Chicago. A blessing of the river was done July 30, and continues as a tradition to this day.

City government is organized as a council-manager government. There is a city commission with five members, who are elected at large. City elections are held in November of even-numbered years; at each election, three commission seats become open. The two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes receive four-year terms, while the candidate receiving the third-greatest number of votes receives a two-year term. At the first meeting following each election, the commission selects from its own number a mayor and mayor pro tem for the following two years. The city commission is a part-time body, typically meeting twice each month to act as a legislative body and set general policies. Day-to-day operations are delegated to a contracted city manager.

Major city facilities include the City Hall and Police Station at 700 Broad Street; the Department of Public Works at 1160 Broad Street; the Fire Department at 915 Broad Street; the Maud Preston Palenske Public Library at 500 Market Street; the John and Dede Howard Ice Arena at 2414 Willa Drive; the Water Treatment Plant at 1701 Lions Park Drive; and Riverview Cemetery at 2525 Niles Road.

The city Water Treatment Plant provides drinking water to the communities of the Lake Michigan Shoreline Water and Sewage Treatment Authority, which serves Lincoln Charter Township, Royalton Township, St. Joseph Charter Township, and the villages of Shoreham and Stevensville. Wastewater treatment is provided through the Joint Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is jointly owned by the cities of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, and which also serves the LMSWSTA communities, Benton Charter Township and portions of Sodus Township.

St. Joseph is served by The Herald-Palladium newspaper, whose offices are in nearby St. Joseph Township, is part of the South Bend/Elkhart television market, and is served by sister radio stations WCSY-FM, WCXT, WIRX, WQYQ, WSJM-FM, and WYTZ as well as some in the South Bend market.

The St. Joseph railway station is serviced daily by Amtrak's Pere Marquette passenger train.

Twin Cities Area Transportation Authority (TCATA) provides public transit throughout the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor area. It was originally a dial-a-ride system. More recently, it launched three fixed routes. Only one of those routes, the Red Route, passes through St. Joseph. The other routes are limited to Benton Harbor and its vicinity.

The St. Joseph Harbor is a commercial port that receives bulk goods from lake freighters. St. Joseph has two docks within city limits and another dock is located in Benton Harbor. Due to limitations on the depth of the port and lack of dredging funding, the harbor is experiencing a down trend in the amount of tonnage. The 2007 numbers for the port are:

Previous year tonnage includes:

Marc Bitzer, CEO at Whirlpool Corporation

Dave Carlock, record producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist

Robert J. Warren, President of LECO Corporation

James Frey, writer

Harry Gast, farmer and Michigan state legislator

Sean Giambrone, actor

Michael Joseph Green, Roman Catholic bishop

Rob Harbin, Bliss 66 guitarist

Doris Keane, actress

Jeff M. Fettig, Ex-CEO of Whirlpool Corporation

Benjamin Franklin King Jr., humorist and writer

Amy Robach, news anchor, ABC's Good Morning America

Rachel Renee Russell, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling children's book series, Dork Diaries

Roger Craig Smith, voice actor

Fred Upton, politician (U.S. House of Representatives)

Frederick Upton, Senior Vice President of Whirlpool Corporation

Louis Upton, Founder of Whirlpool Corporation

Kate Upton, supermodel

Karen Ziemba, actress, singer, and dancer

Reilly Opelka, tennis player

Coolidge, Orville W. (1906). A Twentieth Century History of Berrien County, Michigan. Chicago, Illinois: The Lewis Publishing Company. p. 25.

Eccles, W.J. (1997). John Logan Allen (ed.). French Exploration in North America, 1700-1800. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-8032-1023-3.

Fedynsky, John (June 28, 2010). Michigan's County Courthouses. University of Michigan Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780472117284.

Fuller, George Newman (1916). Economic and Social Beginnings of Michigan: A Study of the Settlement of the Lower Peninsula During the Territorial Period, 1805-1837. Lansing, Michigan: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. p. 266.

Hilton, George W. (2002). Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4240-5.

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St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St.

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1906 - present Blossomtime Festival in celebration of the Agricultural Industry (SP)

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1906 - present Blossomtime Festival in celebration of the Agricultural Industry (SP)

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Fruit growing and processing fruit is/was a large industry in the area.

Annual festival

The Blossomtime Festival is the oldest and largest multi-community Festival in the state of Michigan.

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History of Blossomtime1906 – Present Host communities: Benton Harbor and St. Joseph The Blossomtime Festival is the oldest and largest multi-community Festival in the state of Michigan. As ea…

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1911 - Whirlpool Corporation was started in Benton Harbor (HL)

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1911 - Whirlpool Corporation was started in Benton Harbor (HL)

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1951- Berrien County Jail was built (MJ)

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1951- Berrien County Jail was built (MJ)

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Located in St. Joseph, MI

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2018 - Benton Harbor was issued under a state advisory for having high levels of lead in the water lines (HL)

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2018 - Benton Harbor was issued under a state advisory for having high levels of lead in the water lines (HL)

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BENTON HARBOR - Benton Harbor has been under a state advisory for having higher-than-acceptable levels of lead in some of its water lines for three years.

Before the first state advisory was issued in October 2018, Benton Harbor was one of 18 cities chosen to receive state grant money in a pilot lead removal program offered by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, now called the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).

A lot has happened since then, which has pushed the city of nearly 10,000 residents into the national spotlight. The following is a timeline of specific events that have affected Benton Harbor during its water crisis.

Contact: lwrege@TheHP.com, 932-0361, Twitter: @HPWrege

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A timeline of major events in Benton Harbor's water crisis

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BENTON HARBOR - Benton Harbor has been under a state advisory for having higher-than-acceptable levels of lead in some of its water lines for three years.

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Benton Harbor - 1,230

St. Joseph - 2,603

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Population of Benton Harbor city, Michigan state, Berrien County. Population density, maps, changes. Estimated population for 2023: 9,973

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Benton Harbor- 9,185

St. Joseph- 5,936

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Population of Benton Harbor city, Michigan state, Berrien County. Population density, maps, changes. Estimated population for 2023: 9,973

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Benton Harbor - 18,769

St. Joseph - 10,223

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Population of St. Joseph, MI

Last official estimated population of St. Joseph city ( Berrien County**, Michigan state) was 8,325 (year 2014). This was 0.003% of total US population and 0.08% of total Michigan state population. Area of St. Joseph city is 4.8 mi² (=12.4 km²), in this year population density was 1,737.63 p/mi². If population growth rate would be same as in period 2010-2014 (-0.12%/yr), St. Joseph city population in 2023 would be 8,236*.

Historical population

Historical population of St. Joseph city for period 1880-2014:

St. Joseph city on population map

Estimated population for 2014. Click on flag to hide it.

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Settlements near St. Joseph city

* Benton Harbor city population 2.4 mi, 64°
* Hartford city 18.1 mi, 66°
* Bridgman city 12 mi, 199°
* Berrien Springs village 13 mi, 143°
* Watervliet city 13.3 mi, 62°
* Coloma city 11 mi, 56°
* Stevensville village 6.2 mi, 197°
* Baroda village 10 mi, 179°
* Shoreham village 2.9 mi, 203°
* Eau Claire village 12.4 mi, 129°

Sources, notices

*Calculated by population.us from last known population growth rate, not official data.

**Some cities are placed on more than one county. Only 1 county is shown.

[1] Cities and Towns (Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions) 2014, archived from the original, retrieved 02/23/2016

[2] City and Town Intercensal Estimates (2000-2010), archived from the original, retrieved 02/23/2016

[3] Places: 1990 and 1999 Populations, With Numeric and Percent Population Change, archived from the original, retrieved 02/23/2016

[4] Population of the 100 Largest Urban Places: 1980,

[5] Population of the 100 Largest Urban Places in history,

[6] Area, latitude longitude data, retrieved 02/23/2016

[7] Through the Decades, Overview 1790-2010, PDF, large files! >100 Mb

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Population of St. Joseph city, Michigan state, Berrien County. Population density, maps, changes. Estimated population for 2023: 8,236

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Benton Harbor: 11,182

St. Joseph: 8,789

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Benton Harbor:

race: 6% white/94% black racial mix

median income: $17,471

St. Joseph:

race: 90% white/ 5% black racial mix

median income: $37,032

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It's been called the longest bridge in the world. Not that the St. Joseph River is particularly wide, but the gulf of status, stereotypes, and distrust it represents needs more than steel and cable to cross it.

On one side lies St. Joseph, an Eden-like beach town, brimming with barbered lawns, boutique coffee shops, and summer art festivals. Cross to Benton Harbor, and everything changes. White becomes black, and affluence turns to poverty. Frustrated residents sit on sagging stoops and walk by boarded-up businesses.

When Benton Harbor erupted in violence this week, the trigger was ostensibly a high-speed police chase through a residential neighborhood. It was the second such pursuit in three years, and the second to result in the death of a young black.

But as with most riots, this is a story that goes much deeper than the immediate event that lit the fuse. It's about years of pent-up frustration over that gulf that separates Benton Harbor from St. Joseph. Over the sense most Benton Harbor residents have that a fair trial is impossible in Berrien County, which encompasses both towns, and that the police force engages in practices - like high-speed chases - that would be unheard of across the river. Over the accumulated anger of being pulled over by cops too often, of having job applications rejected before they were glanced at, of the assumptions that if you live in Benton Harbor, you must be a drug dealer, a criminal, a drop-out.

"What's going on now goes back way further than my age, than your age," says Sammie Kemp, a young black man with a large silver cross around his neck, as he watches police in riot gear and assault rifles swarm his neighborhood. Mr. Kemp lives just a few blocks from where the two nights of rioting occurred, in which hundreds of people burst into the streets after a tense City Hall meeting, burning as many as a dozen buildings, overturning cars, and clashing with authorities.

He knew Terrance Shurn, the young man on a motorcycle who died in the chase. But he and his friends are mostly upset about what they see as past miscarriages of justice - and their struggle to get jobs.

"What happened last night I don't agree with," he says. "But stuff like that can happen, and even worse, if they don't come up with ways for people to work here.... A lot of [the people in St. Joseph] automatically judge you. You're a drug dealer, you carry a gun. It's a lot of racial profiling."

When journalist and author Alex Kotlowitz wrote "The Other Side of the River," about another divisive death here in 1991, the undercurrent then, too, was the gap between the two towns.

To this day, Benton Harbor residents remain convinced that the black boy found in the river, who was dating a white girl, was murdered by whites, while St. Joseph residents insist he drowned accidentally.

As a Benton Harbor resident, "all you have to do is look on the other side of the river and you suddenly recognize your place in the world," says Mr. Kotlowitz. "There's an element of self-destruction that takes place."

Still, some residents say, things have started to change in recent years. On the front page of the local paper Monday, the headline was about the new apartments springing up in Benton Harbor's once-decrepit downtown, notes Scott Elliott, a long-time white resident who owns a local art gallery and has worked tirelessly to improve race relations and the fairness of the criminal-justice system.

"We've been working for years and years to dispel the old stigma [about Benton Harbor], and now it's back again," says Mr. Elliott, sitting in the renovated State Theater, once boarded up itself and now an art-house success.

Still, while he's pleased with the strides the downtown has made - and hopeful that progress will continue despite the rioting - Elliott believes that true change will require vast reforms in the way police and the local justice system operate.

Local residents are still particularly raw, for instance, about the police chase in 2000 that resulted in an 11-year-old boy being run over inadvertently. But they also cite perceived miscarriages of justice, such as the case of Maurice Carter. He was convicted in 1976 in the nonfatal shooting of a white police officer, but many people here believe he is innocent, especially since a key eyewitness has insisted he was not the right man.

"This is the thing that has to be addressed before there can be any healing," Elliott says.

A bridge too far?

Located on the southern edge of Lake Michigan, Benton Harbor is one of the poorest communities in the state. It's average unemployment rate last year was 25 percent. Though appliance maker Whirlpool is headquartered here, it sits on the outskirts of town. Most of the other manufacturing jobs that attracted blacks to the area from the South in the past century have long since left.

The town of 11,000 is 92 percent black. Federal figures show that the average income is $17,000 a year.

By contrast, St. Joseph (population 8,800) is 90 percent white. Bustling with clothiers and cafes, its average unemployment rate last year was below 2 percent. Indeed, most of Berrien County is white, conservative, and affluent.

While some of the tensions playing out in this small community are rooted in local grievances, much of the anger heard here on the streets echoes that of African-Americans who have rioted in major cities in recent years. In that sense, Benton Harbor could be South Central Los Angeles or the Over the Rhine section of Cincinnati.

"Race relations in America are characterized by distrust. Historically, blacks have a rational reason to distrust whites, and especially white authority figures as represented by the police," says John Dovidio, a professor who studies race relations at Colgate College in Hamilton, N.Y. Just a few episodes can bring the distrust to the surface. A lack of jobs contributes too. "We look at the Middle East and say, why do they keep reliving the past? But that's what's happening in our cities."

Still, Mr. Dovidio says flare-ups such as the one in Benton Harbor can be helpful, if they become a force for change and coalitionbuilding. A few people here harbor similar hopes.

"We have those who are committed to positive change, those who are disenfranchised, and those who are sitting on the sidelines, and I think this action will be the catalyst to pull all three groups together," says Jeff Noel, president of the Cornerstone Alliance, a community-development group active locally. "I believe you'll see a stronger community come as a result of this."

Though anger remains high at the moment, some locals do, in fact, see at least the possibility of a racial rapprochement.

"My address is still Benton Harbor, and I have no desire of changing that," says Carolyn Graves, who moved here from Arkansas in 1971, raised two children, served for 15 years on the school board, and now works at Union Memorial A.M.E church. Ms. Graves is plenty frustrated - with local blacks for not voting or working for change, with whites across the river for being all talk and no action - but she believes in her town.

"It's a good city. It's got a rich history, and there are some good people here, black and white. And one day, we're going to come together and mean it from our hearts, and not from our heads."

* Staff writer Abraham McLaughlin contributed to this report.

Two towns, together but divergent

Benton Harbor St. Joseph

Population 11,182 8,789

White/black racial mix 6% / 94% 90% / 5%

Median household income $17,471 $37,032

Median home value $38,700 $100,000

Adults* who are high school grads 60% 90%

Adults* who are college grads 4% 32%

Source:Census 2000 * Among those over age 25

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Michigan riots: Tales of two cities and the gulf between

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Behind the week's fury, race tensions and an opportunity gap fueled a crisis of trust.

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Benton Harbor - $24,549

St. Joesph - $62,156

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In 2021, Benton Harbor, MI had a population of 9.17k people with a median age of 34 and a median household income of $24,549. Between 2020 and 2021 the population of Benton Harbor, MI declined from 9,806 to 9,171, a −6.48% decrease and its median household income grew from $21,947 to $24,549, a 11.9% increase.

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Benton Harbor, MI are Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (86.5%), White (Non-Hispanic) (8.66%), White (Hispanic) (2.29%), Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (0.894%), and Black or African American (Hispanic) (0.829%).

None of the households in Benton Harbor, MI reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

99.2% of the residents in Benton Harbor, MI are U.S. citizens.

In 2021, the median property value in Benton Harbor, MI was $61,000, and the homeownership rate was 34.3%.

Most people in Benton Harbor, MI drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 16.4 minutes. The average car ownership in Benton Harbor, MI was 1 car per household.

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In 2021, Benton Harbor, MI had a population of 9.17k people with a median age of 34 and a median household income of $24,549. Between 2020 and 2021 the population of Benton Harbor, MI declined from 9,806 to 9,171, a −6.48% decrease and its median household income grew from $21,947 to $24,549, a 11.9% increase.

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Benton Harbor - 8,943

St. Joseph - 7,768