Saint Joseph County | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 41°55′N85°32′W / 41.92°N 85.53°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Michigan |
Founded | 1829 [1] |
Named for | Fort St. Joseph |
Seat | Centreville |
Largest city | Sturgis |
Area | |
• Total | 521 sq mi (1,350 km2) |
• Land | 501 sq mi (1,300 km2) |
• Water | 20 sq mi (50 km2) 3.9% |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 60,939 |
• Density | 122/sq mi (47/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
Congressional district | 6th |
Website | stjosephcountymi |
St. Joseph County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan, on the central southern border with Indiana. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 60,939. [2] The county seat is Centreville. [3]
French colonists in the late 17th century were the first Europeans to explore this territory, and they named the St. Joseph River for the patron saint of New France. [1] This area was not part of the United States until after the American Revolutionary War. After the 1821 Treaty of Chicago was signed, regional tribes of the indigenous peoples ceded much land to the United States, opening the area for American settlement. The county was set off and organized by the Michigan Territory legislature in 1829; it was named for the river. [1]
The area is home to the oldest and largest Amish community in Michigan. [4]
St. Joseph County comprises the Sturgis, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek-Portage, MI Combined Statistical Area.
This area was settled by members of the three Algonquian-speaking tribes of the Council of Three Fires: the Potawatomi, Odawa, and Chippewa (known as Ojibwa in Canada). French explorers in a party led by Father Hennepin came upriver from Lake Michigan in 1679. A Jesuit mission was established near where the French later built Fort St. Joseph, and they named the waterway as the St. Joseph River.
After the United States and tribal representatives made the 1821 Treaty of Chicago, much of the land in this region was ceded by the tribes to Michigan Territory, so more settlers came from Detroit, Monroe and later from New England and upstate New York. The first were ethnic French. The Godfroy brothers of Detroit built a trading post south of the river, near the later Marantette House site. They appointed Frances Mouton as an agent to trade with the natives of the Nottawaseepe (sippi) settlement. They had another post nearby where Patrick Marantette, also from Detroit, first worked as an agent. He ended up settling in and marrying Mouton's daughter Francis. Theirs was the first marriage in the settlement, and their daughter the first European American born here, in 1836.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 521 square miles (1,350 km2), of which 501 square miles (1,300 km2) is land and 20 square miles (52 km2) (3.9%) is water. [5] It is the fourth-smallest county in Michigan by total area. The entire county lies in the Saint Joseph River watershed.
Strictly speaking, the Indiana Toll Road does not enter St. Joseph County, but it has an interchanges with US 131 barely within Indiana. Although M-66 does not quite reach the Toll Road, the toll road interchange is in clear sight from M-66 before it becomes Indiana State Road 9.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1830 | 1,313 | — | |
1840 | 7,068 | 438.3% | |
1850 | 12,725 | 80.0% | |
1860 | 21,262 | 67.1% | |
1870 | 26,275 | 23.6% | |
1880 | 26,626 | 1.3% | |
1890 | 23,356 | −12.3% | |
1900 | 23,889 | 2.3% | |
1910 | 25,499 | 6.7% | |
1920 | 26,818 | 5.2% | |
1930 | 30,618 | 14.2% | |
1940 | 31,749 | 3.7% | |
1950 | 35,071 | 10.5% | |
1960 | 42,332 | 20.7% | |
1970 | 47,392 | 12.0% | |
1980 | 56,083 | 18.3% | |
1990 | 58,913 | 5.0% | |
2000 | 62,422 | 6.0% | |
2010 | 61,295 | −1.8% | |
2020 | 60,939 | −0.6% | |
2023 (est.) | 60,878 | [6] | −0.1% |
US Decennial Census [7] 1790-1960 [8] 1900-1990 [9] 1990-2000 [10] 2010-2018 [2] |
The 2010 census indicates St. Joseph County had a 2010 population of 61,295. This decrease of -1,127 people from the 2000 United States Census represents a -1.8% population change (decrease) in that decade. In 2010 there were 23,244 households and 16,275 families in the county. The population density was 122.4 per square mile (47.3 per square kilometer). There were 27,778 housing units at an average density of 55.5 per square mile (21.4/km2). The racial and ethnic makeup of the county was 88.0% White, 2.5% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races.
There were 23,244 households, out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.6% were husband and wife families, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.0% were non-families, and 24.8% were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.08.
The county population contained 25.9% under age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.9 males.
The 2010 American Community Survey 3-year estimate indicates the median income for a household in the county was $43,964 and the median income for a family was $52,600. Males had a median income of $30,517 versus $16,388 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,737. About 1.8% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.3% of those under the age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over. [11]
St. Joseph County has long been reliably Republican. Since 1884, the Republican Party nominee has carried 81% of the elections (29 of 36).
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2024 | 19,403 | 66.11% | 9,452 | 32.20% | 495 | 1.69% |
2020 | 18,127 | 64.78% | 9,262 | 33.10% | 592 | 2.12% |
2016 | 14,884 | 62.10% | 7,526 | 31.40% | 1,557 | 6.50% |
2012 | 12,978 | 55.36% | 10,112 | 43.13% | 355 | 1.51% |
2008 | 12,886 | 50.00% | 12,322 | 47.81% | 563 | 2.18% |
2004 | 15,340 | 60.78% | 9,648 | 38.23% | 251 | 0.99% |
2000 | 12,906 | 58.60% | 8,574 | 38.93% | 544 | 2.47% |
1996 | 9,764 | 46.96% | 8,529 | 41.02% | 2,501 | 12.03% |
1992 | 9,836 | 41.03% | 7,817 | 32.61% | 6,318 | 26.36% |
1988 | 13,084 | 64.79% | 7,017 | 34.74% | 95 | 0.47% |
1984 | 15,405 | 72.34% | 5,795 | 27.21% | 96 | 0.45% |
1980 | 13,631 | 63.19% | 6,318 | 29.29% | 1,621 | 7.52% |
1976 | 11,784 | 61.07% | 7,306 | 37.86% | 205 | 1.06% |
1972 | 12,438 | 69.15% | 5,119 | 28.46% | 431 | 2.40% |
1968 | 10,445 | 59.20% | 5,413 | 30.68% | 1,787 | 10.13% |
1964 | 7,307 | 43.96% | 9,284 | 55.85% | 32 | 0.19% |
1960 | 12,337 | 69.13% | 5,445 | 30.51% | 65 | 0.36% |
1956 | 12,328 | 74.11% | 4,242 | 25.50% | 64 | 0.38% |
1952 | 12,191 | 72.19% | 4,509 | 26.70% | 187 | 1.11% |
1948 | 8,166 | 65.66% | 3,928 | 31.59% | 342 | 2.75% |
1944 | 9,785 | 69.45% | 4,235 | 30.06% | 69 | 0.49% |
1940 | 10,025 | 66.32% | 5,045 | 33.38% | 45 | 0.30% |
1936 | 7,160 | 51.85% | 6,048 | 43.80% | 601 | 4.35% |
1932 | 5,626 | 43.78% | 6,917 | 53.82% | 309 | 2.40% |
1928 | 8,781 | 76.05% | 2,698 | 23.37% | 67 | 0.58% |
1924 | 6,633 | 65.43% | 2,649 | 26.13% | 855 | 8.43% |
1920 | 6,035 | 66.59% | 2,725 | 30.07% | 303 | 3.34% |
1916 | 3,132 | 45.01% | 3,567 | 51.26% | 260 | 3.74% |
1912 | 1,224 | 19.03% | 2,388 | 37.13% | 2,820 | 43.84% |
1908 | 3,466 | 52.93% | 2,770 | 42.30% | 312 | 4.76% |
1904 | 3,649 | 59.80% | 2,176 | 35.66% | 277 | 4.54% |
1900 | 3,178 | 48.19% | 3,283 | 49.78% | 134 | 2.03% |
1896 | 3,184 | 43.76% | 3,968 | 54.54% | 124 | 1.70% |
1892 | 2,824 | 43.93% | 2,441 | 37.97% | 1,163 | 18.09% |
1888 | 3,372 | 48.36% | 3,217 | 46.14% | 383 | 5.49% |
1884 | 3,261 | 46.89% | 3,554 | 51.11% | 139 | 2.00% |
The county government operates the jail, operates the major local courts, records deeds, mortgages, and vital records, administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of social services. The county board of commissioners controls the and has limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions – police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. – are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.
(Information verified with county website [14] as of August 2024)
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Royalton Township is a civil township of Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan, a few miles southeast of the city of St. Joseph. The population was 5,141 at the 2020 census.
Sherwood Township is a civil township of Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,959 at the 2020 census.
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Nottawa Township is a civil township of Isabella County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,225 at the 2020 census.
Mendon is a village in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is located within Mendon Township.
Nottawa Township is a civil township of St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,685 at the 2020 census. The township is named after the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi.
Sturgis is a city in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,994 at the 2010 census. The city is located at the northeast corner of Sturgis Township and at the intersection of US 12 and M-66. Sturgis is just north of the Michigan–Indiana border and the I-80/90 Indiana Toll Road.
M-86 is an east–west state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan in the southern portion of the Lower Peninsula. The highway starts at Business US Highway 131 and M-60 in Three Rivers and ends at US Highway 12 (US 12) near Coldwater. In between, it crosses farm country and runs along a section of the Prairie River. Following a highway originally numbered M-7, the roadway was renumbered M-86 in 1940. It has been a part of the state highway system at least since 1927. Two other roadways carried the M-86 designation in the 1920s. Two bridges along the road are eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
Nottawa Creek is a 33.9-mile-long (54.6 km) stream in the U.S. state of Michigan that flows into the St. Joseph River at 42°00′15″N85°23′40″W, approximately three miles east of the village of Mendon.
The Sturgis Journal is a daily newspaper published in Sturgis, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Gannett. Previous owner GateHouse Media acquired the paper from Independent Media Group in 2000.
The Marantette Bridge, also known as the Railroad Street Bridge, is a historic vehicle bridge, now closed to traffic, located at Railroad Street over the St. Joseph River in Mendon, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.