Saint Joseph

Formed October 19, 1829 (16^th county)

Saint Joseph County (60,939), Centreville (1,322), Sturgis (11,095)

A red brick and stone courthouse was built in 1900.  It sits next to the Courts Building.  The courthouse was designed by Sydney J. Osgood in Romanesque Revival style.  A Modern red brick Courts Building was erected in 1975.  The courthouse sits on Main Street between Clark and Dean streets.  Michigan State Highway 86 is Main Street in this part of the town.  The courthouse features a tower.  The grounds have veteran memorials, a military gun, and a gazebo.  Two more courthouses from 1842 and 1899 were previously in use in Centreville.  Kammeraad, Stroop, Van Der Leek, Inc., are the designers of the current structure.  The county was created on October 19, 1829 from Native American Territory as the 16^th county.  Its name comes from the Saint Joseph River.  It is also the source name for the county seat of Berrien County.  Centreville is a geographical term for its location in the county.  White Pigeon (1829), Lockport Village (1830), and Centreville (1831) have all been the county seat. 

Saint Joseph County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer and a clerk (executive).  It has 7 Commissioners (legislative.)  One Circuit Court Judge, Three District Court Judges, Two Probate Court Judges and court clerk serve Saint Joseph County (judicial.) The county is on the southern border of the southern peninsula.  Indiana forms its southern border.  The county center is in Centreville 1.5 miles South-Southeast of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Kalamazoo, Calhoun, and Branch counties and Indiana and Cass and Van Buren counties. 

The area of the county is 521 square miles.  It is 80 out of 83 in the state.  It ranks 33 out of 83 in population in the state.  It has a density of 117.0 persons per square mile making it 25 out of 83 in the state.  Saint Joseph County has 44.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 12 crosses the county east to west from Branch County to Cass County.  United States Highway 131 goes north to south from Kalamazoo County to Indiana.  The county is a rectangle with a small toe sticking out of the southwest corner.  Centreville is located near the center of the county.  Sturgis is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Centreville is the county seat and Sturgis is the largest city.  Centreville is 2.2% of the county population while Sturgis is 18.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Sturgis Micropolitan Statistical Area.