Niles, Michigan – Worth it Places

Top 10 Places in Niles, Michigan – The City of Four Flags

The place I call home!

Forever Young Cruisers Classic Car Show, Downtown Niles

Four Flags Area Apple Fest, Downtown Niles — Four Flags Area Apple Fest Parade, Downtown Niles

1. Downtown Niles great food scene!

- - Nuggett Downtown Grill
  - Niles Brewing Company
  - Jim’s Smokin’ Cafe and Paris Soda Shop
  - Apothica Teas
  - El Amigo Pepe
  - Veni Sweet Shop
  - CJ’S Pizza
  - Gabrizio Italian Cafe & Bakery
  - Iron Shoe Distillery
  - Front Street Pizza Pub
  - Hot Wok
  - Swirlyz Frozen Yogert
  - The Brass Eye (homemade ramen)
  - Pizza Transit
  - Brew Ha Ha

Plus the beautiful streetscape with community fruits and vegetables – grown for anyone who wants them!

Ready Theatre, cinematreasures.org — Historic picture inside Ready Theatre, Niles, Michigan (Image courtesy of cinematreasures.org)

2. Wonderland Cinema (more than just any other movie theater – it has first run movies, food, and snacks for great prices – a regionally-drawing community treasure; plus community-sponsored free movies in the park during the summer at Riverfront Park), plus:

- - Ready Theatre (currently under restoration efforts – inside the downtown National Historic District)
  - Casperson’s Books
  - Rusty Hooks Bait & Tackle
  - Main Street Antique Mall
  - Four Flags Antique Mall
  - Riley’s Recycled Relics
  - ‘Cross The Street
  - Colorful Stitches
  - Lupita’s Dresses
  - Bee Crafty

Niles Family Fun Fair & Bluegrass/Americana Music Fest, Niles Riverfront Pavilion

"Pa-Wa-Ting" (Great Crossing) Park — “Pa-Wa-Ting” (Great Crossing) Park on the Old Sauk Trail, Grant Street Bridge

3. Niles Riverfront

- - Riverfront Park
  - Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail
  - Madeline Bertrand County Park
  - Central Riverfront Park Boat Launch
  - South Riverfront Park at the Niles Dam across from the French Paper Co.
  - Island Park
  - Pa-Wa-Ting (Great Crossing) Park on the Old Sauk Trail (a small park with a historic marker at the southwestern corner of the Grant Street Bridge)
  - Riverfront Park Campground
  - Losensky Park & Dowagiac River Dam at Pucker Street
  - Marmont Street Boat Launch

Hunter Ice Festival, Niles Riverfront Park and Downtown

4. Niles Festivals and Special Events

- - Four Flags Area Apple Festival
  - Niles Scream Park during Halloween season
  - Fort St. Joseph Rendezvous Days
  - Niles Hunter Ice Festival
  - Niles Family Fun Fair & Bluegrass/Americana Music Fest
  - Jazz on the River
  - Free Friday Movies in the Park
  - Forever Young Cruisers classic car shows
  - Bridge Bash Dash
  - Niles French Market/Artisan Alley Market – a farmers market

Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce (Old Carnegie Library), Niles

West Michigan Pike-Dixie Highway-Michigan Detroit Chicago Highway-Detroit Lincoln Denver Highway – historic auto routes established by early 1920’s

5. Niles National Historic District

- - Old Carnegie Library (now home to the Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce)
  - Old U.S. Post Office (now offices at 322 East Main Street – National Register of Historic Places)
  - Newman Building (northwest corner of Main and 2nd Streets)
  - Gitchell Block/Masonic Temple (1884-85; northwest corner of Main and 3rd Streets)
  - American Block (1836-1914)
  - Van Gorder/White Block (c. 1898; 1924)
  - Star Building
  - Niles Daily Sun Building
  - Plym House
  - Paine Bank (National Register of Historic Places – it has been moved beyond of the boundaries of the National Historic District)

Plus the historic auto routes established by the early 1920’s:

- - West Michigan Pike (South Bend spur to Michigan Riviera)
  - Dixie Highway
  - Michigan-Detroit-Chicago Highway (largely similar route to old U.S. Route 12)
  - Detroit-Lincoln-Denver Highway

6. Fort St. Joseph and the story of the Four Flags – a confluence of transportation and cultures

- - St. Joseph River Park (the archaeological site of Fort St. Joseph)
  - Fort St. Joseph Memorial
  - Allouez Park Memorial
  - Fort St. Joseph Museum
  - Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project
  - Fort St. Joseph Rendezvous Days
  - Niles Public Library
  - Chapin House (Old City Hall)
  - Bertrand’s historic marker (outside of town)
  - St. Joseph’s Mission historic marker (outside of town)

Niles train station — Historic Niles Amtrak Station

Turntable and Roundhouse, Niles, Michigan

7. Niles Railroad History

- - Niles Amtrak Station (with state historic marker and on the National Register of Historic Places)
  - Niles Amtrak Bridge
  - Old Niles Roundhouse with turntable
  - 9th Street abandoned industrial rail line
  - former rail spur to the French Paper Company
  - former rail line along the Niles Riverfront
  - former Cincinnati, Wabash, & Michigan Railroad line south of town along Brandywine Creek leading to Granger and Elkhart
  - former Cincinnati, Wabash, & Michigan Railroad line north of town running somewhat parallel to M-140 leading to Eau Claire then somewhat parallel to Pipestone Road leading to Benton Harbor
  - former Michigan Airline Railroad running somewhat parallel to Lake Street leading to Cassopolis and Three Rivers
  - Thomson Road Bridge (over a former Air Line Railroad rail yard)

Chapin House (old city hall) — Chapin House (Old City Hall), Niles

Four Flags Hotel Building (National Historic District), Niles — Four Flags Hotel Building with Ready Theatre on the left (National Historic District)

8. Niles State of Michigan Historic Markers:

- - Four Flags Hotel Building (also part of the National Historic District)
  - Henry A. Chapin House (Old City Hall – National Register of Historic Places)
  - Wesley United Methodist Church
  - Trinity Episcopal Church
  - Mount Calvary Baptist Church
  - Ferry Street School
  - St. Mary’s Catholic School
  - Ring Lardner House (National Register of Historic Places)
  - John and Horace Dodge
  - Johnson Cemetery

9. Countryside orchards, such as u-picks like Lehman’s Orchards, with more orchards to the north in Central Berrien County

10. Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve