Berrien Springs, Michigan
Encyclopedia
Berrien County, Michigan
Berrien County is a county located in the extreme southwest of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 156,813. The county seat is St. Joseph....
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. The population was 1,862 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
. The village is located within Oronoko Charter Township
Oronoko Charter Township, Michigan
Oronoko Charter Township is a charter township of Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,843 at the 2000 census.The Village of Berrien Springs is the only incorporated municipality within the township. Much of the eastern portion of the township is considered to be part...
. Berrien Springs is best known for its Seventh-day Adventist community and Andrews University
Andrews University
Andrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College in Battle Creek, Michigan, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists, and is the flagship university of the Seventh-day...
. Reflecting the town's population, many of the businesses in town are closed on Saturdays.
History
Berrien Springs, like Berrien County, is named for John M. BerrienJohn M. Berrien
John Macpherson Berrien of Georgia was a United States Senator and Andrew Jackson's Attorney General.Born at Rocky Hill, New Jersey, to a family of Huguenot ancestry, Berrien moved with his parents to Savannah, Georgia, in 1782; was graduated from Princeton College in 1796; studied law in...
; "Springs" was added after mineral springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
were discovered in the area. The village is the site of the earliest settlement in Oronoko Township, and was first known as "Wolf's Prairie" in reference to the 1,000-acre prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
in which it was situated. The first permanent settlers, John Pike and his family, came in 1929.
The village of Berrien was platted in 1831, and the village of Berrien Springs was incorporated in 1863. Berrien Springs was the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
from 1837 until 1894, when St. Joseph
St. Joseph, Michigan
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 2000 census, the city population was 8,789. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about east-northeast of Chicago. It is the county...
became county seat. The Berrien Springs post office opened with the name Berrien on December 4, 1832 and changed to Berrien Springs on April 18, 1836.
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
owns an estate in the Berrien Springs area.
NFL defensive lineman Regan Upshaw
Regan Upshaw
Regan Charles Upshaw is a retired American football lineman who played in the National Football League between 1996 and 2004...
was born in Berrien Springs in 1975.
The 1839 Courthouse
When Berrien Springs became the county seat, its courthouse, designed by local architect Gilbert B. Avery, was completed in 1839. The Greek Revival-style courthouse emulated the architecture of ancient Greece with its large columns, triangular pediment and white paint. After the county seat was moved in 1894, the building was put to various uses and briefly was vacant. In 1967, efforts to preserve and restore the courthouse began.The restored courthouse square contains Michigan’s oldest courthouse as part of the Midwest’s most complete surviving mid-nineteenth century county government complex. Today the square houses a county museum and archives and serves as headquarters for the Berrien County Historical Association. Its original buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The gallery on the first floor of the 1839 Courthouse is devoted to exhibits on Berrien County history. Topics covered include early colonial forts, the fur trade, railroads, the Civil War, early Berrien County industries, Native Americans and area pre-history. The Sheriff’s House gallery hosts changing exhibits. Classroom programs include living-history presentations. Teachers can invite a Civil War soldier or French voyageur to speak to their class.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 1 square miles (2.6 km²), of which, 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (7.14%) is water. The village is situated on the St. Joseph River
St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)
The St. Joseph River is a river, approximately long, in southern Michigan and northern Indiana in the United States. It drains a primarily rural farming area in the watershed of Lake Michigan...
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 1,862 people, 732 households, and 475 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,059.6 per square mile (798.8/km²). There were 787 housing units at an average density of 870.5 per square mile (337.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 77.12% White, 11.06% African American, 0.43% Native American, 4.03% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 4.30% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.92% of the population.
There were 732 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the village the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $32,396, and the median income for a family was $41,250. Males had a median income of $31,467 versus $21,750 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $16,093. About 12.4% of families and 17.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.4% of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over.
Elementary
- Mars Elementary – Public, Grades K-2
- Sylvester Elementary – Public, Grades 3–5
- Berrien Springs Middle School – Public, Grades 6–8
- Trinity Lutheran SchoolTrinity Lutheran SchoolTrinity Lutheran School may refer to:*Trinity Lutheran School *Trinity Lutheran School *Trinity Lutheran School *Trinity Lutheran School...
– Private, Religious (LutheranLutheran Church - Missouri SynodThe Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...
), Grades PreK – 8 - Ruth Murdoch Elementary – Private, Religious (Seventh-day AdventistSeventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
), Grades K-8 - Village SDA Elementary – Private, Religious (Seventh-day Adventist), Grades K-8
Secondary
- Andrews AcademyAndrews AcademyAndrews Academy is a Seventh-day Adventist secondary school located in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Andrews Academy's sister school, Ruth Murdoch Elementary School, handles students in grades K-8...
– Private, Religious (Seventh-day Adventist), Grades 9–12 - Berrien Springs High School – Public, Grades 9–12; team name: Shamrocks; team colors: green and white
Post-secondary
- Andrews UniversityAndrews UniversityAndrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College in Battle Creek, Michigan, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists, and is the flagship university of the Seventh-day...
is located nearby in Oronoko Charter TownshipOronoko Charter Township, MichiganOronoko Charter Township is a charter township of Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,843 at the 2000 census.The Village of Berrien Springs is the only incorporated municipality within the township. Much of the eastern portion of the township is considered to be part...
.