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    ← History drives

    A history drive · about 46 miles · about 1 hr 15 min of driving

    The Fruit Belt

    Lake Michigan tempers the weather along a narrow strip of shore, and by the 1840s Berrien County was already shipping peaches across the lake to Chicago. Apples, cherries, berries, grapes, pears and plums followed, and the market that opened at Benton Harbor in 1860 grew into what was called, in the 1940s, the largest cash-to-growers outlet in the world. 'No tour through Michigan is complete without a ride through the famous Fruit Belt,' a motorists' guide said in 1914. This drive starts in Benton Harbor at the oldest house in town and the market itself, climbs inland to the orchards around Coloma and the growers' cooperative at Watervliet, and ends among the fruit farms and the old county seat at Berrien Springs. Go in season: farm markets and u-pick fields follow the weather, so call ahead.

    Open the whole drive in Google Maps Start at stop 1

    The map opens here.

    The numbers follow the stops below. The dashed line joins the stops in order; it is not the road route.

    About 46 miles and 1 hour 15 minutes of driving, not counting stops (road distances from OpenStreetMap routing). Peaches run from mid-July; apples from mid-August through October; blossom time is late April to early May.

    The stops

    1. Public Library, Benton Harbor, Mich
      Then: Public Library, Benton Harbor, Mich, 1905. none required

      1 Morton House Museum, Benton Harbor

      501 Territorial Road, Benton Harbor, MI 49022

      The oldest building in Benton Harbor, built in 1849 by the pioneer Eleazar Morton and his son Henry, one of the city's founders; four generations of Mortons lived here until 1936 (state marker L0037). J. Stanley Morton, Henry's son, was president of the Graham and Morton Transportation Company, whose steamboats ran between Benton Harbor and Chicago, and he added the pillars in 1912. It is now a museum of Benton Harbor history, including the city's African American community.

      Open: Call ahead for hours: 269-313-2106.

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      Source

    2. Benton Harbor Fruit and Vegetable Market, largest in the world
      Then: Benton Harbor Fruit and Vegetable Market, largest in the world, about 1930–45. Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Collection

      2 Benton Harbor Fruit Market and 'The Fruit Belt' marker

      1891 Territorial Road, Benton Harbor, MI 49022 (marker on Territorial Road at the market)

      The market was established in 1860 as the outlet for the region's fruit; it began downtown and moved to this Territorial Road site in 1967 with urban-renewal funds, and in season nearly 100 commodities still pass through it. The state marker 'The Fruit Belt' (S0155, 1958) stands on Territorial Road and tells how the lake's influence made the coast a fruit country and Benton Harbor 'one of the world's major fruit markets.' It is a working wholesale market for growers and buyers: watch from the public road and keep clear of trucks.

      Open: Marker any time. The market trades seasonally from summer, as produce arrives; it is wholesale, not a retail stand.

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      Source

    3. An orchard at its best, near Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Mich
      Then: An orchard at its best, near Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Mich, about 1930–45. Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Collection

      3 Jollay Orchards, Coloma

      1850 Friday Road, Coloma, MI 49038

      The same family has farmed this land since 1857; the orchard counts the 2026 harvest as its 170th and its owners as the eighth generation. Cherries, blueberries and peaches are picked in summer, apples and grapes in fall, and the farm market sells fresh apple cider, apple-cinnamon doughnuts and caramel apples. It is one of the three stops on Project Scroll's harvest passport trail.

      Open: Seasonal, June through November; hours and admission on the farm's Summer Hours page or by phone, 269-468-3075.

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      Source

    4. Rose Inn and Rose Cottages, Paw Paw Lake Road, Coloma, Mich
      Then: Rose Inn and Rose Cottages, Paw Paw Lake Road, Coloma, Mich, about 1930–45. Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Collection

      4 Fruit Acres Farm Market & U-Pick, Coloma

      U-pick: 2789 Friday Road, Coloma, MI 49038 (farm market: 3452 Friday Road)

      A mile up Friday Road, a second family fruit farm with u-pick sweet and tart cherries, peaches and apples, and pumpkins in fall. Peaches run from mid-July through September. Some of the availability notes on the farm's site are old, so check before you go.

      Open: Seasonal; u-pick Saturdays and Sundays 10 to 4:30 in season, per the farm's site.

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      Source

    5. Dancing Pavilion at Paw Paw Lake, Mich
      Then: Dancing Pavilion at Paw Paw Lake, Mich, about 1900. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

      5 North Berrien Historical Museum, Coloma

      300 Coloma Ave., Coloma, MI 49038

      The museum of the North Berrien Historical Society, free, with exhibits listed as 'Fruit Belt,' 'Crate Basket' and 'Paw Paw Lake,' the resort lake just north of town. It is the place to see the baskets and crates the orchards shipped in, and to ask about the history of Coloma and Watervliet.

      Open: Tuesday to Friday, 10 to 4. Free; donations welcome. Call 269-468-3330.

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      Source

    6. Grading and assorting peaches near Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Michigan
      Then: Grading and assorting peaches near Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Michigan, 1913. none required

      6 Watervliet Fruit Exchange (The Country Store)

      7821 Red Arrow Highway, Watervliet, MI 49098

      Founded in 1940, when eighteen local fruit farms banded together to sell their harvest, the Exchange is now a year-round country store and farm-supply shop with seasonal produce, raw honey, pies and local cider. Watervliet itself grew around mills on the Paw Paw River; its paper mill ran from 1894 to 1994, and the old dams came out in 2011.

      Open: Open year round; call ahead for hours, 269-463-3187.

      Directions to this stop

      Source

    7. 7 Stover's Farm Market & U-Pic, Berrien Springs

      7837 M-139, Berrien Springs, MI 49103

      A farm market with a long u-pick season: strawberries from late May or early June, sweet and tart cherries, raspberries, nine varieties of peaches, twenty-three of apples, and pumpkins, gourds and squash into October.

      Open: Seasonal, late May through October; dates follow the weather, so call ahead.

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      Source

    8. 8 Lemon Creek Fruit Farms and Winery, Berrien Springs

      533 E. Lemon Creek Road, Berrien Springs, MI 49103

      A family farm that describes itself as locally owned and operated for more than 160 years, with a farm market, pick-your-own fruit in season and a tasting room for wine made from its own grapes. It is one of the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail's members.

      Open: Seasonal farm market, open daily in fruit season; tasting room Mon-Fri 11-6, Sat 10-6, Sun 12-6, per its site. Tastings are for visitors 21 and over.

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      Source

    9. Old Berrien County Courthouse (engraving)
      Then: Old Berrien County Courthouse (engraving), 1880. none required

      9 History Center at Courthouse Square, Berrien Springs

      313 N. Cass St., Berrien Springs, MI 49103

      The 1839 Greek Revival courthouse, designed by Gilbert B. Avery and built by James Lewis, is called Michigan's oldest existing county courthouse; Berrien Springs was the county seat from 1837 until an election moved it to St. Joseph in 1894. The Berrien County Historical Association keeps it and four more buildings, including Bennett's Forge and the Murdoch log cabin, with exhibits on the county's history.

      Open: Museum buildings Wednesday to Sunday, 10 to 5, by the site's museum list; call ahead, 269-471-1202. The forge and log cabin close when it is below 30 degrees.

      Directions to this stop More on Project Scroll ›

      Source

    Food and rest stops

    Food on the way, from the site's list: The Livery, brewpub, 190 5th St., Benton Harbor (/food/eat/#the-livery); Jollay Orchards' farm market for cider and doughnuts in season (/food/eat/#jollay-orchards); Blackbird Waterhouse, 4896 Paw Paw Lake Rd., Coloma (/food/eat/#blackbird-waterhouse). Restrooms: the museums and farm markets have them for customers; none confirmed for the public otherwise.

    Before you go

    Sources

    All the drives The valley map Plan a day out