HISTORY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE

ART PHYSICS FABRICATION HISTORY LITERATURE

AND YOU, SEAS CELEBRATES OUR COMMUNITY’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE WATER.
CLICK THROUGH THE PHOTOS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ST. JOSEPH & BENTON HARBOR’S MARITIME HISTORY.

SAINT JOSEPH, 1870
ST. JOE HARBOR, 1885
SILVER BEACH, 1909
HARBOR & STEAMSHIP DOCKS, 1911
CHICAGO YACHT CLUB, 1911
THE DUSTLESS WAY TO HAPPY LAND, 1913
FLY ACROSS LAKE MICHIGAN, 1913
FISHING ON THE PIER
ST. JOE FROM THE WATER
WAITING ON THE BRIDGE, 1940
SAINT JOSEPH, 1870
SAINT JOSEPH, 1870: The location where Lake Michigan meets the St. Joseph River has been one of the most important places in our community’s history for centuries. The Miami and Potawatomi used the area as a camp long before European explorers noticed the mouth of the river in 1669 and St. Joseph was incorporated as a village in 1834.

Map from the Michigan History Center, michiganology.org.
ST. JOE HARBOR, 1885
ST. JOE HARBOR, 1885: In 1836, construction began on harbor piers on either side of the mouth of the St. Joseph river (just visible near the top of the photograph from 1885). The harbor provided secure access for boats coming into St. Joseph and Benton Harbor from Lake Michigan.

Photo courtesy of Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library, St. Joseph, MI.
SILVER BEACH, 1909
SILVER BEACH, 1909: Silver Beach Amusement Park opened in 1891 when Logan Drake and Louis Wallace added cottages to the land between Lake Michigan and the St. Joseph River. Concessions, games, a boardwalk, and (in 1904) a roller coaster all lured tourists to the site.

Photo courtesy of Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library, St. Joseph, MI.
HARBOR & STEAMSHIP DOCKS, 1911
HARBOR & STEAMSHIP DOCKS, 1911: This postcard, postmarked 1911, shows the bustle of the harbor over 100 years ago. The first water route between St. Joseph and Chicago began in 1825 as a mail route across Lake Michigan. Later, steamship travel brought both tourism and industry across the lake to the twin cities.

Postcard courtesy of Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library, St. Joseph, MI.
CHICAGO YACHT CLUB, 1911
CHICAGO YACHT CLUB, 1911: Steamships weren’t the only boats to occupy the harbor in 1911. Another postcard from the time shows sailboats from the Chicago Yacht Club preparing to leave the harbor. St. Joseph’s own River Yacht Club was formed in 1913, just two years after this postcard was postmarked.

Postcard courtesy of Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library, St. Joseph, MI.
THE DUSTLESS WAY TO HAPPY LAND, 1913
THE DUSTLESS WAY TO HAPPY LAND, 1913: In 1874, Henry Graham and J. Stanley Morton started the Graham and Morton Transportation Company – a local steam line and major shipping carrier out of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. The line was so successful that in 1880 it beat out its competitor, Goodrich Transportation, to become the only major carrier out of St. Joseph.

From The Great Lakes Maritime History Project, University of Wisconsin-Madison, library.wisc.edu.
FLY ACROSS LAKE MICHIGAN, 1913
FLY ACROSS LAKE MICHIGAN, 1913: Aviator Jack Vilas and Benton Harbor resident William Bastar made history in 1913 when they lifted off from this site in an airplane and became the first people to fly across Lake Michigan.

Article published July 2, 1913. Copyright © The New York Times.
FISHING ON THE PIER
FISHING ON THE PIER: The piers may look different, but this scene is a familiar one for St. Joseph and Benton Harbor residents. The undated photograph shows people of all ages fishing Lake Michigan from the south pier. The lighthouse and two ships are visible in the background.

Photo courtesy of Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library, St. Joseph, MI.
ST. JOE FROM THE WATER
ST. JOE FROM THE WATER: Another undated photo taken from the north pier shows the south pier and St. Joseph waterfront. The Whitcomb and Lake View hotels are visible in the background along the bluff.

Photo courtesy of Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library, St. Joseph, MI.
WAITING ON THE BRIDGE, 1940
WAITING ON THE BRIDGE, 1940: The water has been both a unifier and divider of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor over the years. In 1885, the quickest way to go back and forth between the cities was a street railway with “cars” pulled by horses. In this photo from 1940, automobiles wait at a swing bridge that used to extend State Street across the river.

Photo courtesy of Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library, St. Joseph, MI.
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