[5] 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.

French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, built Fort Miami on the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.

Once the ship was deemed lost, La Salle and his men made the first land crossing of the lower peninsula by Europeans.

[10] The post traded food, furs and goods with places including Detroit, Mackinac and Chicago.

[11] 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.

Before the rise of large ship companies on Lake Michigan, service was done primarily by owner-operated boats.

[16] On October 11, 1898, Augustus Moore Herring took one of his gliders, fitted with a motor, to Silver Beach in St. Joseph.

It was left to the Wright brothers to perfect controlled flight five years later, and give themselves and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a place in history that might have ended up belonging to Herring and St.

Starting in 1874, Henry Graham and J. Stanley Morton began operating a steam line out of St. Joseph.

The company grew fast and over the fifty plus years of its existence became the second largest line on Lake Michigan behind only Goodrich.

[14] In 1924, as graded roads began to line the Lake Michigan shoreline, G & M was forced to merge into Goodrich.

Like most other ports along Lake Michigan, St. Joseph saw a huge drop in traffic during the early years of the twentieth century and this was exacerbated by the Great Depression.

[14] On January 29, 1870, the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad extended a rail line from New Buffalo to St. Joseph.

The line was reorganized as the Chicago and West Michigan Railway and then was incorporated into the Pere Marquette Railroad.

In the early 20th Century, the company was the largest employer in St. Joseph with 700 employees and built 600 wooden boats per year.

[19] In 1911, Louis, Emory, and Frederick Upton began a business that produced household washing machines.

Today, Whirlpool Corporation is the largest manufacturer of major home appliances and maintains a large presence in Benton Harbor and nearby St. Joseph.

[20] In 1891 the Silver Beach Amusement Park was opened on land between the lake and mouth of the river in St. Joseph.

Logan Drake and Louis Wallace bought the land from the Pere Marquette Railroad and added cottages to lure tourists to the lake front.

As the park aged and grew in popularity, the pair added many attractions, including concessions, games, pool, a boardwalk and different rides.

Wastewater treatment is provided through the Joint Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is jointly owned by the cities of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, and which also serves the LMSWSTA communities, Benton Charter Township and portions of Sodus Township.

[32] In 1987, USS Oliver Hazard Perry came to port, and its commander let festival-goers take a free tour.

Music also contributed to the festival's success, and was offered at three locations: the Bluff, Shadowland Pavilion, and the Main Stage.

Many local musicians played at the Bluff and the Pavilion, while the Main Stage hosted such well-known bands as the Beach Boys, Cheap Trick, Gin Blossoms, Little Big Town, and Jason Michael Carroll.

[35] Previous year tonnage includes: St. Joseph is served by The Herald-Palladium newspaper, whose offices are in nearby St. Joseph Township, is part of the South Bend/Elkhart television market, and is served by sister radio stations WCSY-FM, WCXT, WIRX, WQYQ, WRRA-FM, and WSJM-FM as well as some in the South Bend market.