Fans of local history will have a chance to learn more about how Southwest Michigan came to become what it is today with an event in South Haven Tuesday.
The Historical Association of South Haven will welcome Western Michigan University instructor Erika K. Hartley to talk about archaeological finds at Fort Saint Joseph in Niles.
Fort Saint Joseph was founded as a mission by French Jesuits in the 1680s and was one of the first European settlements in the western Great Lakes area. It went on to function as a garrison and a trading post. The site has produced thousands of religious, military, and domestic artifacts revealing the lives of those who once occupied this frontier outpost. Today, it can be found at 1415 Bond Street in Niles, right along the St. Joseph River.
Erika Hartley is an instructor at the WMU Institute for Intercultural and Anthropological Studies and leads the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project. She’ll present “Archaeology and Collections: Researching Fort St. Joseph” at 7 p.m. at the Hartman School building on Hubbard Street in South Haven Tuesday. The presentation will be free and open to the public.
