Then and now
Niles, 1860 and today
The biggest town plan on the 1860 wall map is the City of Niles, in Berrien County, astride the St. Joseph River. Here it is laid over the streets of today. Fade between the two, or drag a line across and see one beside the other.
Other towns: Cassopolis · Dowagiac · Paw Paw · South Bend · Goshen · Elkhart · all seven
Drag to move. Scroll, pinch or use the buttons to zoom. The old plan was lined up by hand on street corners that still carry their 1860 names, so it is close but not exact: expect it to be out by a few yards in places.
Things to look for
- The numbered streets, Front to Twelfth, still in the same order today. Fade to see how closely the blocks match.
- The Michigan Central Railroad and its depot on the river, and the mill race beside it.
- The bridges across the St. Joseph, and the island in the river.
- The additions named for the men who laid them out: Hoffman’s, Beeson’s, Moore’s, Bond’s and the rest. Each name is a lead to a plat in the county’s records.
- The Union School, the Fair Ground and the Cemetery on the east side of town.
How this was made
The plan was cut from the Library of Congress copy of the wall map. Forty-three street corners that appear on both maps (Front Street to Ninth Street, where they meet Eagle, Howard, Cass, Ferry, Sycamore and Main) were matched by measurement, and the plan was fitted to them, turning it a fraction of a degree. On average the old corners land within about four yards of the new ones. Where today’s Main Street bends away east of Fifth Street it was left out of the fit, because the 1860 plan carries it straight.
1860 plan: Map of the Counties of Cass, Van Buren and Berrien, Michigan (Philadelphia: Geil, Harley & Siverd, 1860), inset “City of Niles, Berrien Co.” Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, g4113c.la000324. Public domain. Today’s aerial photograph and, once the challenge is solved, today’s names: USGS The National Map (public domain). Today’s streets and water drawn as lines: OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License.
The business directory printed beside this plan is in the roll of names: who was in Niles in 1860 →