Saint Joseph, Michigan
| St. Joseph, Michigan | |
|---|---|
| City | |
| Nickname(s): Saint Joe | |
 Location of St. Joseph, Michigan |
|
| Coordinates: 42°5′53″N 86°29′3″W / 42.09806°N 86.48417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Berrien |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.80 sq mi (12.43 km2) |
| • Land | 3.22 sq mi (8.34 km2) |
| • Water | 1.58 sq mi (4.09 km2) |
| Elevation | 630 ft (192 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 8,365 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 8,311 |
| • Density | 2,597.8/sq mi (1,003.0/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Zip Code | 49085 |
| FIPS code | 26-70960 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0636762 |
| Website | City of St. Joseph |
St. Joseph is a city in the US state of 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 the county seat of Berrien County. It is home of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
St. Joseph and Benton Harbor are locally known as the "Twin Cities".
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 discovered 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 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 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.
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