The weeks leading up to election day were contentious as Berrien Springs, St. Joseph, and Niles vied for the county seat, with newspapers being a spirited part of the process.

[8] In 1895, the county began construction on the new courthouse, but while some operations made the move seamless to St. Joseph, some remained in Berrien Springs for at least another year.

Residents of Berrien Springs continued to use the Courthouse for meetings, community events, and even established a dance hall and armory.

In 1900, Battle Creek College, a Seventh-day Adventist school, made the decision to move to a new location, opting for Berrien Springs.

The county agreed and the 1901–1902 school year was held, with administrative offices in the Records building, classes in the Sheriff's Residence and Courthouse, and the courtroom itself serving as the college chapel.

By the 1910s, the county split the complex apart and sold off portions to private owners, including the Records Building and the Sheriff's Office.

The Seventh-day Adventist community had grown considerably, thanks in part to EMC (now Andrews University), and they approached the county to rent the Courthouse as a church.

Extensive research by local historians, aided by Western Michigan University, established the cabin as having been built in approximately 1830 and was the original home for Berrien Springs co-founder Francis Murdoch.

Over the next few years, the cabin will be restored and receive exhibit upgrades for both levels while the adjacent garden will be gutted and restructures to be more historical accurate.

[11] In addition to being on the state and national Register of Historic Places, the Courthouse was named a Michigan Bar Association legal milestone in 2013.

By 1859, the county was facing a serious issue – its size and needs had grown so much in twenty years that the offices in the lower level of the Courthouse were no longer functional space.

Gilbert Avery was once again hired to design the one story brick structure and George H. Murdock was granted the construction contract to the tune of $3,000.

The bitter event eventually ended in the favor of St. Joseph and that summer, everything was moved to a temporary location until the 1896 Courthouse was completed.

For a period of time in 1901 and 1902, the entire grounds was used as the temporary campus for Emmanuel Missionary College (the future Andrews University).

While the building served as apartments for most of its post-county existence, until the 2000s, a laundromat and a local soft water company occupied the two story section.

Plans over the years had included offices, storage, and exhibit space in various styles, however, continued costs associated with the renovation of the building and the new updates proved to be prohibitive.

In 2006, the BCHA embarked on a capital campaign to raise 2.3 million dollars to finally renovate the building, however a one-two punch derailed it.

This building, completed in 1870, is two-stories tall and was designed with living space and the sheriff's office on the lower levels and bedrooms on the second floor.

The office and at least on room upstairs had a pass-through door to the jail, allowing the sheriff to quickly access the space from inside the house.

As with the Courthouse and Records building, the Sheriff's Residence was home to Emmanuel Missionary College (the future Andrews University) in 1901-1902 as classroom space.

The upper levels were converted to office spaces and the research library while the rear wing was modified to house the archives and collections.

The jail was completed at the same time as the residence and was also two-stories tall, but it was topped off with a skylight that illuminated the space and provided much needed ventilation.

The skylight was almost whimsical, shaped like an upside down cone topped with a glass globe and gave the rectangular building a distinctive silhouette.

The interior was just as unique, with Avery employing a circular pattern to the jail cells layout, with the center rising the full two stories.

Research indicated that the house had been two story since the very beginning and its likely given the Kimmels’ standing in Berrien County along with Francis’ career as a lawyer, a quality home would have been important to the family.

It is believed that the precursor to the building's modern exterior was added around the time of the Civil War, with portions of the back wall removed for a new extension.

The building was moved intact to the Courthouse Square in 1973 and area experts created new wall sections to match the original in order to close the holes.

In the early years, the house was outfitted in period artifacts, but currently the home is semi-empty when not in use by re-enactors and the upper level is off limits to the public until repairs can be made.

Not long after the Seventh-day Adventist Church purchased the majority of available land around the courthouse, they began to expand with the addition of two buildings along Madison Street.

The buggy shop eventually became storage for the BCHA's over-sized collections, including a wagon and a large boat discovered in the St. Joseph River in the 1970s.