- Berrien County -

Berrien county is located in the most southwestern corner of Michigan, and is bisected by the St. Joseph river. It is bounded on the west by Lake Michigan, the south by Indiana, the east by Cass county with Van Buren county on the east and north. The county was named after U.S. Attorney General (1829-1831) John M. Berrien.

Jacques Marquette, one of the earliest explorers of the Great Lakes, was the first white man to visit the region. In 1679 Rene‘ Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami, now the city of St. Joseph, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River. Other French explorers built Fort St. Joseph and a Jesuit mission further up the river at what is now the city of Niles.

From 1805 until 1829 the area area that now comprises Berrien County was a part of Wayne County. The current boundaries were set by an act of legislature on October 29, 1829, but it was attached as Niles Township to Cass County for administrative purposes. By an act of the Legislative Council of Michigan Territory, approved March 1, 1831, Berrien county was detached from Cass, and organized as a separate county.

The earliest immigration of settlers came from the south and the majority were of southern origin, either by birth or descent. The pioneer colonist and farmer of Berrien county was Squire Thompson who was born in Virginia in 1784 and came in 1823 after living in Ohio for a time. His daughter Rachel, born in 1825, was the first white child born in the St. Joseph valley. Among those soon to follow were William Kirk, also from Virginia, 1824; John Lybrook, 1824; Joel G. Yard and John Johnson, 1825. In about 1834, after the Erie Canal had been completed and the Chicago road constructed, the immigration from New York began. In 1830 the census records show a population of only 325. Within ten years that number increased to 5,011 and, by 1850 had swelled to a population of 11,417.

In early years merchandise and immigrants from the east were brought to St. Joseph by sailing vessels. The merchandise was then loaded onto smaller craft which ascended the river for nearly one hundred and fifty miles. The amount of business done by these early vessels was immense. The forwarding business carried on at St. Joseph during these days was the most important and profitable business conducted at that point.

With the harbor improved, and piers constructed, fruit from local orchards could be transported across the lake to Chicago, Milwaukee and other ports, and the industry boomed. The first shipment of peaches to Chicago was made by Captain Curtis Boughton in 1839 aboard the schooner Henry U. King. As the industry grew, so did the need for labor. "Fruit Tramps," migrant workers who followed the crops, bunked in barns or in migrant camps. Some of these were farmers and their families displaced by the Dust Bowl during the 1930s and early '40s. Today Berrien County is the heart of Michigan's fruit belt. It leads all other Michigan counties in production of peaches, pears and grapes. It is second in apples, plums and prunes and for many years has been the home of the world's largest outdoor retail fruit market.

Agriculture was far from being the county's only industry. In 1911 Fred and Louis Upton moved to St. Joseph and, with a patent for an electric clothes washer, began the Upton Machine Company. In 1950 the name was changed to the more familiar Whirlpool Corporation. John and Horace Dodge were born in Niles and ran a bicycle manufacturing business before moving to Detroit to produce automobiles. Montgomery Ward wasn't born in Berrien county but lived in the county until 1865 when he moved to Chicago to start a well recognized mail order department store.

The total area of Berrien county is 1,581 square miles, however, nearly two-thirds of it (1,014 sq. mi.) is water. The largest city is Niles and the county seat is at St. Joseph.

 

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