MONOCROMATIC HARMONY

Downtown

Band Shell

Silver Beach

St. Joseph Lighthouse

Venetian Festival
A Venetian Festival was formerly held annually on the third weekend of July on Silver Beach in St. Joseph, Michigan, a small town on the coast of Lake Michigan in the southwest part of the state. It started in 1979, and grew from a handful of people to nearly 200,000 visitors at the end. Once a two-day event on Friday and Saturday, this festival eventually ran from Thursday through Sunday and featured a variety of amusements. It was discontinued after the 2011 festival.

ing the latter name. The company began marketing a line of appliances known as the Whirlpool brand in 1948. Within the next decade, Nineteen Hundred changed its name to Whirlpool. Today, Whirlpool Corporation is the largest manufacturer of major home appliances and maintains a large presence in St. Joseph and nearby Benton Harbor. Whirlpool has its world headquarters outside Benton Harbor. 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. The first roller coaster was built in 1904 and was called the Chase Through the Clouds which was replaced by the Velvet roller coaster

(renamed the Comet). Among the most popular attractions were the carousel and the Shadowland Ballroom, built in 1927. During the 1960s and 1970s, the buildings decayed and the crowds decreased. Finally, crime in the park caused it to be shut down by police in 1970.

of the disputed parts took place in the area. James went to St. Joseph High School. Some members of the area including local police helped to show that the book was not a complete factual recount but partly a fictional retelling of events. Stephen Christian, singer of the band Anberlin spent part of his childhood in St. Joseph, and in the song (*fin) mentions The house on Ridge Road, which he says is in St. Joseph.

St. Joseph in Pop Culture

The book The Other Side of the River by Alex Kotlowitz documents the death of an African American teenage boy through the eyes of locals in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. The book delves into race relations between the two cities. The controversial book A Million Little Pieces by James Frey takes place in part in and around the city of St. Joseph. Many

Business and Industry

In 1911, Louis, Emory, and Frederick Upton began a business that produced household washing machines. The business soon became a boom and has continued to grow to this day. In 1929, Upton Machine Company merged with Nineteen Hundred Corp., tak-

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Visit Saint Joseph

Attractions
Silver Beach The St. Joseph North Pier Inner Lighthouse Kiwanis Park The St. Joseph Public Art Project Historic Downtown John and Dede Howard Ice Rink Maud Preston Palenske Public Library

Government
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. In 1860, wooden sidewalks were built. Since then, downtown St. Joseph, while still maintaining some of its older storefronts, has changed tenfold. Located just 90 miles from downtown Chicago, St. Joseph is a community of 8,800 people situated within the larger Benton Harbor/St. Joseph MSA of 162,000 people. The City of St. Joseph has continually operated at full economic capacity, with citywide unemployment rates typically hovering around 2%.

Curious Kids Carousel

City government is organized as a council-manager government. There is a city commission with five members, who are elected at large. City elections are held in November of even-numbered years; at each election, three commission seats become open. The two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes receive fouryear terms, while the candidate receiving the third-greatest number of votes receives a two-year term. At the first meeting following each election, the commission selects from its own number a mayor and mayor pro tem for the following two years. The city commission is a part-time body, typically meeting twice each month to act as a legislative body and set general policies. Day to day operations are delegated to a contracted city manager.

Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 8,365 people, 3,933 households, and 1,941 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,597.8 inhabitants per square mile (1,003.0 /km2). There were 4,795 housing units at an average density of 1,489.1 per square mile (574.9 /km2). The racial makeup of the city was 88.1% White, 5.3% African American, 0.3% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.8% of the population.