There were 3,933 households of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.5%

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 really cheap plane tickets River, about 90 miles (140 km) east-northeast really cheap plane tickets of Chicago. It is the county seat of Berrien County. It is home of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological really cheap plane tickets Engineers.
The mouth of the St. Joseph River at present day St. Joseph was an important point of Amerindian travel really cheap plane tickets and commerce, as it lay along a key water route between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Both the Miami and Potawatomi used this route and would use the area as a camp. The St. Joseph River also allowed for connection with the Sauk Trail, which was the major land trail through Michigan. In 1669, the mouth of the river was discovered by European explorers. French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, built Fort Miami on the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. In 1679, he waited for the ship Le Griffon , which never returned. really cheap plane tickets Once the ship was deemed lost, La Salle and his men made the first land crossing of the lower peninsula by Europeans.
The next permanent white settler in St. Joseph was William Burnett, who around 1780 started a trading post at the mouth of the St. Joseph River. The post traded food, furs and goods with places including Detroit, Mackinac and Chicago. 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. Joseph. Shortly thereafter, he laid out the plat of the village, then known as Newburyport, named after a coastal city in Massachusetts. Britain was influential in attracting other settlers to the area. Lots sold rapidly and the village flourished.
The St. Joseph river mouth was straightened through a channel and piers were added later. The first lighthouse in St. Joseph contends with Chicago's really cheap plane tickets original really cheap plane tickets lighthouse as the first to be built on Lake Michigan. Newburyport changed its name to St. Joseph when it was incorporated really cheap plane tickets in 1834.
The first water route across Lake Michigan between St. Joseph and Chicago began as a mail route in 1825, but service was sporadic until 1842 when Samuel and Eber Ward began a permanent service. That lasted eleven years. Before the rise of large ship companies on Lake Michigan, service was done primarily by owner-operated boats. With the rise in shipping in Benton really cheap plane tickets Harbor and the rise in tourism in St. Joseph, permanent and larger operations began operating out of the ports.
After a bitterly fought political contest, St. Joseph was named the seat of Berrien County in 1894, when Berrien really cheap plane tickets Springs relinquished that status. The three largest towns in the county, Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, and Niles, each wanted to be the county seat, but none had a majority vote. Once St. Joseph and Benton Harbor voters really cheap plane tickets combined their votes, St. Joseph had enough to win.
On October 11, 1898, Augustus Moore Herring took one of his gliders, fitted with a motor, to Silver Beach in St. Joseph. really cheap plane tickets Herring's machine lifted ever so slightly off the ground and actually flew for seven seconds. Eleven days later, really cheap plane tickets the inventor made another flight of ten seconds. While Herring had a powered really cheap plane tickets heavier-than-air craft, he did not have a way to control it. 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. Joseph. Transportation history
Two major shipping companies operated between St. Joseph and Chicago during the last half of the 19th century, the Goodrich Transportation company and the local firm of Graham and Morton. They dominated the traffic at St. Joseph for more than 100 years, although other smaller companies did operate during this time.
Starting in 1874, Henry Graham and J. Stanley Morton began operating a steam line out of St. Joseph. Their collaboration would become the Graham and Morton Transportation Company. Through really cheap plane tickets vigorous competition, they won the war to become the major carrier out of St. Joseph. Goodrich stopped service to the Twin Cities in 1880. The company grew fast and over the fifty plus years of its existence became the second largest line on Lake Michigan behind only Goodrich.
In 1924 G M merged with 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. The route between Chicago and St. Joseph did survive until the 1950s.
really cheap plane tickets On January 29, 1870, the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad really cheap plane tickets extended a rail line from New Buffalo to St. Joseph. This railroad connected St. Joseph to Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Detroit and Chicago. (Prior really cheap plane tickets to this, the only connection St. Joseph had to these other cities was by water.) The line was reorganized as the Chicago and West Michigan Railway and then was incorporated into the Pere Marquette Railroad. Business and industry history
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 really cheap plane tickets Hundred really cheap plane tickets Corp., really cheap plane tickets taking 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 really cheap plane tickets a large presence in St. Joseph really cheap plane tickets 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 really cheap plane tickets 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 really cheap plane tickets 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. Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.80 square miles (12.43 km 2 ), of which, 3.22 square really cheap plane tickets miles (8.34 km 2 ) is land and 1.58 square miles (4.09 km 2 ) is water. 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 really cheap plane tickets density was 2,597.8 inhabitants per square mile (1,003.0 /km 2 ). There were 4,795 housing units at an average density of 1,489.1 per square mile (574.9 /km 2 ). The racial makeup of the city was 88.1% White, 5.3% African really cheap plane tickets 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.
There were 3,933 households of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.5% were married couples living really cheap plane tickets together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 50.6% were non-families. 43.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average really cheap plane tickets household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.74.
The median age in the city was 41.6 years. 16.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.6% were from 25 to 44; 27.2% were from 45 to 64; and 18.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. 2000 census
As of the census really cheap plane tickets of 2000, there were 8,789 people, 4,117 households, and 2,058 families really cheap plane tickets residing really cheap plane tickets in the city. The population density was 2,561.3 per square mile (989.3/km ). There were 4,594 housing units at an average density of 1,338.8 per square mile (517.1/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 90.31% White, 5.11% African American, 0.41% Native really cheap plane tickets American, 2.39% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.29% of the population.
There were 4,117 households out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.0% were non-families. 44.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household really cheap plane tickets size was 1.99 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the city the population was spread out with 19.0% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,032, and the median income for a family was $51,328. Males had a median income of $36,250 versus $26,395 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,949. About 4.3% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over. Arts and culture
The Concours d'Elegance of Southwest Michigan is held annually on the second Saturday in August. The inaugural really cheap plane tickets show was held in 2005. An invitational fine car show, 75 vintage car owners are asked to show vehicles in St. Joseph's downtown Lake Bluff Park. Government
City government really cheap plane tickets is organized as a council-manager government. There