Berrien County, Michigan

Seal

Location in the U.S. state of Michigan

Michigan's location in the U.S.

Founded

October 29, 1829 (created)
1831 (organized)

Named for

Largest city

Area

• Total

1,581 sq mi (4,095 km²)

• Land

568 sq mi (1,471 km²)

• Water

1,014 sq mi (2,626 km²), 64%

Population

• (2014)

155,233

• Density

276/sq mi (107/km²)

Congressional district

6th

Time zone

Eastern: UTC-5/-4

Website

www.berriencounty.org

Berrien County is a county located in southwest Michigan just north of Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the population is 156,813. The county seat is St. Joseph.

Berrien County is included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka, IN-MI Combined Statistical Area.

As one of the Cabinet counties, Berrien County was named for John M. Berrien of Georgia, U.S. Attorney General under U.S. President Andrew Jackson (1829–1831). The county was founded in 1829 and organized in 1831.

After creation of the Michigan Territory in 1805, the territory now comprising Berrien County was part of Wayne County, Michigan. About 1780, William Burnett came from New Jersey and established a trading post at the mouth of the St. Joseph River (present-day site of St. Joseph), and traded with indigenous peoples and French Canadians who lived in the area at that time. About the same time, Joseph Bertrand also established a trading post on the river, in a location now part of Niles Charter Township. In December 1822, missionary Isaac McCoy moved his family and 18 Indian students from Indiana to a site on the St. Joseph River near the present-day city of Niles to open a mission to the Potawatomi Indians. The Carey Mission, as he named it, was 100 miles from the nearest White settlement. In 1827 St. Joseph Township was organized as part of Wayne County. The township included all lands acquired from the Native Americans by the Treaty of Chicago of 1821.

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