St. Joseph Harbor, MI

St. Joseph Harbor, Michigan is located on the east shore of Lake Michigan, 60 miles easterly from Chicago, Illinois, and 24 miles southerly from South Haven, Michigan. The project was authorized by Rivers and Harbors Acts of March 3, 1875; June 14, 1880; March 3, 1899; August 30, 1935; June 2, 1937; March 2, 1945; and, July 3, 1958. The existing project provides for protecting the mouth of the St. Joseph River by two piers and revetments, 250 to 325 feet apart at their inner and outer ends, respectively, having lengths of 2,758 feet on the north side and 2,603 feet on the south side; for a channel 21 feet deep from Lake Michigan to the mouth of the Benton Harbor Canal, a length of about 6,900 feet with widths of 265 feet at the outer end of the piers, 190 feet at the inner end of the piers and revetments, thence generally 215 feet to the lower end of the turning basin, increasing to 250 feet above the turning basin to the mouth of the Paw Paw River, thence generally 110 feet in the Paw Paw River to the mouth of the Benton Harbor Canal; for dredging the channel in the Benton Harbor Canal up to the west line of Riverview Drive, a length of about 800 feet to a depth of 18 feet and width of 80 feet; for dredging a turning basin 18 feet deep on the north side of the channel above the mouth of the Morrison Channel; and for a turning basin 18 feet deep near the mouth of the Paw Paw River. The project serves several commercial wharves for handling coal, building materials, petroleum products, and other miscellaneous commodities