St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)

The Saint Joseph River (known locally as the Saint Joe) is a Template:Convert river that flows in a generally westerly direction through southern Michigan and northern Indiana, United States, before emptying into Lake Michigan. The Saint Joseph River drainage basin covers Template:Convert, and is the third largest watershed draining to Lake Michigan. The land within its bounds is primarily used for agriculture. The river and its tributaries provide a variety of paddling and fishing environments. Historically, the river served as an important canoe transportation route for various Native American tribes, and for French Canadian Voyageurs.

Description of the watershed

The Saint Joseph River watershed drains Template:Convert from 15 counties: Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Hillsdale, Kalamazoo, Saint Joseph and Van Buren in Michigan and DeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Saint Joseph and Steuben in Indiana. The watershed includes 3,742 river miles (6,022 km) and flows through and near the Kalamazoo-Portage, Elkhart-Goshen, Mishawaka-South Bend, and Saint Joseph/Benton Harbor metropolitan areas.<ref name=WMP/> The St. Joseph River main stem is Template:Convert long, rising in southern Michigan in Hillsdale County flowing from Baw Beese Lake, within Template:Convert of the headwaters of the other Saint Joseph River of the eastward-flowing Maumee River watershed. Baw Beese Lake was historically named for the Potawatomi Chief Baw Beese.

The river follows a zigzag route generally westward across southern Michigan, dipping into northern Indiana. From its headwaters, it flows initially northwest past Hillsdale into southeastern Calhoun County, then turns abruptly southwest to flow past Tekonsha, Union City, Sherwood, and Mendon. At Three Rivers it is joined from the north by the Rocky and Portage rivers, and by the Prairie River from the east, after making an abrupt turn south. At Constantine it receives the Fawn River from the east. Next, after returning to a southwest course, it receives the Pigeon River from the east, near the Michigan–Indiana state line. In northern Indiana, the river flows west-southwest through Elkhart, Mishawaka, and South Bend, where it turns abruptly to north to re-enter southwestern Michigan in southeastern Berrien County. In southwestern Michigan, it follows a wide meandering route generally northwest through Niles and past Berrien Springs. Just North of Niles it receives the Dowagiac River. It divides St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, receiving the Paw Paw River from the north approximately Template:Convert from its mouth in St. Joseph on Lake Michigan.

There are 190 dams in the Saint Joseph River watershed, and 17 on the river mainstem.<ref name=Dams>Template:Cite report</ref> Most of these dams block fish passage, although fish ladders constructed on the lower dams allow salmonine passage as far as the Twin Branch Dam in Mishawaka, Indiana. But, the fish ladders are not adequate for many native species, such as sturgeon, and the dams tend to be built on the higher gradient portions of the river, which are the most critical river habitats for fish spawning.<ref name=Wesley>Template:Cite report</ref>

History

File:South-bend-st-joe-river.jpg

The Saint Joseph River flows through downtown South Bend, Indiana. The abrupt turn of the river gives the city its name.

saakiiweesiipiiwi (Outlet River, also historically spelt Sakiwasipi),<ref>Miami-Illinois Indigenous Languages Digital Archive, "saakiiweesiipiiw- (n.inan) St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)" https://mc.miamioh.edu/ilda-myaamia/dictionary/entries/5808</ref> as it was called by the Miami people, was inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous tribes as it served an essential trade avenue in the Great Lakes region. The most recent indigenous inhabitants of the area were the Miami and Potawatomi peoples.<ref name=bogue>Bogue, Margaret Beattie (1985). Around the Shores of Lake Michigan: A Guide to Historic Sites, p. 334. University of Wisconsin Press. Template:ISBN.</ref> Two different portages allowed nearly continuous travel by canoe among different watersheds of the region. The first major transfer point was at the headwaters in southwestern Michigan, where travelers could make a portage to the Saint Joseph River of the Maumee River watershed, which drained into Lake Erie. The second major transfer point was at South Bend, Indiana, where a short portage to the nearby Kankakee River allowed access to the Illinois River and subsequently to the Mississippi. Another major access point along river was at Niles, Michigan, where the Old Sauk Trail, a major east-west Indian trail, crossed the river.

The indigenous trade and navigation networks in the area allowed for extensive trade and movement of people, which allowed early Europeans access to the area in 1675 when Père Jacques Marquette was guided up the Mississippi River via the Illinois River, then to the Kankakee River and portaged to Sakiwasipi and then down to Lake Michigan. On November 1, 1679 René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle sailed southeast across Lake Michigan and built Fort Miami at the mouth of the river.<ref name=Howard/> La Salle named the river La Rivière des Miamis (River of the Miamis).<ref name=McCafferty/>

At the end of 1679, La Salle followed indigenous trade routes in the opposite direction of that taken by Marquette; heading up the St. Joseph River and portaging to the Kankakee River, getting as far west on the Illinois River as modern-day Peoria, Illinois, before returning to Fort Miami. After giving up on the return of his ship, Le Griffon, in April 1680, he became the first European to walk the well traveled indigenous routes east across the Lower Peninsula of Michigan back to the Detroit River and Canada.<ref name=Howard/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The French established Fort St. Joseph at the crossroads of Old Sauk Trail and this well-established east–west trail in 1691.

The watershed was later used as canoe route by early French fur trappers in the Illinois Country. European American settlement of the St. Joseph river basin area began to increase in earnest after southwestern Michigan was surveyed in 1829.<ref name=wesley>Wesley, Jay K., & Duffy, Joan E. (1999). St. Joseph River Assessment, pp. 22-24. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division. Retrieved 2011-01-30.</ref> From the early 1830s until 1846, the river bore various commodities from upstream to a busy port at St. Joseph, where they were loaded onto lake boats for shipment to Chicago and elsewhere.<ref name=bogue/>

On April 11, 1893, a Lake Michigan seiche (a phenomenon similar to an ocean tsunami) pushed a wall of water, Template:Convert high, up the river at St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. This raised the level of the river by Template:Convert. The cause of the seiche was unknown, but has been attributed to a sudden squall or change in atmospheric pressure.<ref>Hilton, George Woodman (2002). Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers, p. 13. Stanford University Press. Template:ISBN.</ref>

South Bend Race Canals

Factories located in South Bend because of access to the river and hydro-power created in the East and West Races.<ref name="business history">Center for History "Template:Usurped." Retrieved on 2014-03-28.</ref> The water rights to what would become the East and West Races were claimed by Alexis Coquillard and Lathrop Taylor in 1831, when the city of South Bend was founded.<ref name="West Race St. Joe River">St. Joseph County Public Library "East Race Waterway." Retrieved on 2014-03-28.</ref> Although the idea of digging a mill race (man-made canal) was put forth in 1835, a dam and the East and West Races were not constructed until 1843. The construction was done by the South Bend Manufacturing Company, incorporated in December 1842 for this very purpose. The South Bend Manufacturing Company thus became owner of the water power rights on the West Race canal, while Samuel L. Cottrell purchased the water rights along the East Race canal.

In 1867 the South Bend Hydraulic Company purchased the rights to the East Race canal for $100. In 1903 the ownership of stock, property rights, and property of the South Bend Manufacturing Company on the West Race canal passed to the Oliver Chilled Plow Works.<ref name="business history" /> Over the next two years the Oliver Chilled Plow Works constructed a hydro-electric power plant on the waterway to supply electricity for light, heat, and power to the Oliver Opera House, Oliver Hotel, South Bend factories, and other Oliver buildings.<ref name="Electricity">Downtown South Bend History "History of South Bend." Retrieved on 2014-03-28.</ref>

Other sources of energy and changes in technology resulted in the canals no longer being used for industrial purposes. In the late 1940s the Indiana and Michigan Electric Company purchased the rights along the East Race canal. They began filling it in around 1954 for re-use for other purposes.<ref name="business history" /> In 1973 the Oliver Chilled Plow Works hydro-electric plant was demolished to make room for construction of the Century Center, which was completed in 1977.<ref name="business history" /> The West Race still exists as a canal North of Jefferson Boulevard and South of Colfax Avenue on the banks of Century Center, between Pier Park and Island Park.Template:Original research inline

In the early 1980s, the East Race canal was re-excavated. It was converted to a man-made whitewater kayaking course, now known as the East Race Waterway.

Template:AnchorEast Race Waterway

File:South-Bend-East-Race.jpg

East Race Waterway

In 1984, the abandoned East Race canal in South Bend, whose outlets were both at the river, was converted into the East Race Waterway, North America's first artificial whitewater waterway<ref name="erace">South Bend Parks and Recreation "East Race Waterway." Retrieved on 2008-02-01.</ref> and the first of four in the United States.<ref>The other three are Dickerson Whitewater Course, U.S. National Whitewater Center, and Adventure Sports Center International. A fifth course, Ocoee Whitewater Center, built in a modified riverbed for the 1996 Olympics, is no longer used for training or competition.Template:Citation needed</ref> Locals first proposed in 1973 that the 19th-century waterway be reopened; construction began in August 1982 and the East Race reopened on June 29, 1984.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Through the use of movable barriers and obstacles, the East Race can be configured to provide a whitewater course for recreational and competitive canoeing, kayaking and rafting. In 2021, the East Race was temporarily closed for construction. The City of South Bend is building a hydroelectric dam on the waterway. The project was funded by the University of Notre Dame.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Historic sites

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=Template:AmboxTemplate:Main other }} Two sites in the river basin, Moccasin Bluff and Fort Saint Joseph, are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Carey Mission, Fort Miami, and Burnett Trading Post are listed as State Registered Historic Sites.<ref name=wesley/>

Ecology and conservation

Before European settlement, the watershed was dominated by deciduous forests consisting of maple, ash, oak, elm, walnut, and beech species, along with pockets of white, red and jack pine species. There were also prairies up to several miles across, which were grazed by elk (Cervus canadensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), moose (Alces alces), and bison (Bison bison). By 1900 the virgin forests were mostly logged, and the prairies largely converted to agricultural use, as were many drained wetlands.<ref name=WMP>Template:Cite report</ref>

File:08 30 2023 St Joseph River.png

Flora along the St. Joseph River bank plants at Union City, Michigan, in August 2023

Among the unique natural features that remain in the watershed are prairie fens, coastal plain marshes, bogs, floodplain forests, hardwood swamps, and moist hardwood forests. Rare plants include prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), rosinweed, tall beak rush, and umbrella grass.

The wetlands and floodplain forests provide habitat to nearly half of all migratory birds in Indiana and Michigan and are a vital habitat for resident species as well, such as wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), coyote (Canis latrans), fox, beaver (Castor canadensis), mink (Neogale vison), Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina), and the rare spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) and northern redbelly snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata), both protected by the state of Michigan. The lower Pigeon River is home to the federally endangered Indiana Bat.<ref name=WMP/>

In 1969, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources began stocking the lower Template:Convert of the river for steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). In 1975, Michigan constructed a fish ladder at the Berrien Springs Dam to enable the salmonids to run an additional Template:Convert upstream to the Buchanan Dam. In 1980 the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and United States Fish and Wildlife Service signed the "St. Joseph River Interstate Cooperative Salmonid Management Plan", which led to construction of fish ladders at the Buchanan, Niles, South Bend and Mishawaka dams. By 1992 the salmonid runs were extended to the Twin Branch Dam in Indiana, a distance of Template:Convert from Lake Michigan. This enabled the trout and salmon to spawn in coldwater tributaries such as McCoy Creek.<ref name=WMP/><ref name=MDNR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Although completion of fish ladders on the lowest five mainstem dams in 1992 allowed salmonine passage as far as Twin Branch Dam in Mishawaka, Indiana, 94% of the fish that pass are salmon and trout, as the ladders were not designed to permit passage of migrating native fish. Historically, the migrating native species included lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), bass (smallmouth and largemouth), redhorse (silver, golden, shorthead, river, and greater) (Moxostoma ssp.), walleye (Sander vitreus), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), northern pike (Esox lucius) and American pickerel (E. americanus vermiculatus). Every spring the Potawatomi and early settlers used spears, seines and dip nets to catch their annual supply of fish. The abundance of lake sturgeon made the area around Niles famous in the mid-to late-1800s. Fish up to Template:Convert long and Template:Convert were taken by anglers, and their roe was exported to Russia as caviar. Sturgeon used to migrate as far as Hillsdale County, Michigan, and Sturgeon Lake near Colon, Michigan, still bears the name of this mighty fish.<ref>Template:Cite gnis</ref> Now the spawning sturgeon rarely reach Niles, as they are impeded by the dam at Berrien Springs, reducing the length of the river used by them for spawning by Template:Convert. Historically, ninety-seven species of fish were native to the Saint Joseph River Basin.<ref name=Wesley/>

In 1994, the Friends of the Saint Joe River (FotSJR), a non-profit conservation organization, was founded by Athens, Michigan, residents Al and Margaret Smith, to organize the river communities to clean and restore the river. In 2002 FotSJR developed the St. Joseph River Watershed Management Plan, with grant support from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The river delivers significant pollutants to Lake Michigan - including sewage overflows from riverside communities, sediments and toxic substances such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB).<ref name=WMP/> When the plan was developed, the river carried the greatest portion of atrazine into Lake Michigan. It is an agricultural herbicide associated with cancer even at low levels and is a very common contaminant of drinking water.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Recreation

The Saint Joseph River is a trout and salmon sport fishery, encompassing Template:Convert of river in Michigan and Template:Convert in Indiana. The economic benefits to local Michigan and Indiana communities are estimated at several million dollars annually.<ref name=MDNR/>

Canoeists can travel the entire length of the main stem, if they are prepared to portage. Many of the larger tributaries offer opportunities for paddling, hiking, hunting, and fishing.

Cities, towns, and villages along the St. Joseph River

File:Elkhart-indiana-st-joe-river.jpg

The Saint Joseph River at Elkhart, Indiana

File:The St Joseph River in Benton Harbor.jpg

The Saint Joseph River between Benton Harbor and Saint Joseph near Lake Michigan

• Saint Joseph, Michigan
• Benton Harbor, Michigan
• Fair Plain, Michigan
• Berrien Springs, Michigan
• Buchanan, Michigan
• Niles, Michigan
• South Bend, Indiana
• Mishawaka, Indiana
• Osceola, Indiana
• Elkhart, Indiana
• Bristol, Indiana
• Constantine, Michigan
• Three Rivers, Michigan
• Mendon, Michigan
• Union City, Michigan
• Burlington, Michigan
• Tekonsha, Michigan
• Litchfield, Michigan
• Jonesville, Michigan
• Hillsdale, Michigan

Dams

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=Template:AmboxTemplate:Main other }} A list of dams on the Saint Joseph River.

Name	State Located	Height	Purpose	Type	Capacity (MW)	Year	Owner Name	Size of Storage (Acre Ft)	Coordinates	Comments
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	7.17'<ref name=":0" />	Other<ref name=":0" />	Unknown		1836<ref name=":0" />	Randal Food Products<ref name=":0" />	56<ref name=":0" />	42°05'18.0"N 84°59'12.0"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":17">Template:Cite news</ref>	Indiana	10'<ref name=":1" />	Other<ref name=":1" />	Concrete<ref name=":1" />	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1834<ref name=":1" />	Edgewater LLC<ref name=":1" />	291<ref name=":1" />	41°39'47.2"N 86°10'38.2"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	6.2'<ref name=":3" />	Recreation<ref name=":3" />	Concrete<ref name=":3" />		1979<ref name=":3" />	Hillsdale County Drain Commissioner	1,950<ref name=":3" />	41°54'36.0"N 84°36'57.0"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":17" />	Michigan	36'<ref name=":4" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":4" />	Gravity, Earth<ref name=":4" />	7.2<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":17" />	1908<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":17" />	American Electric Power<ref name=":4" />	6,400<ref name=":4" />	41°56'39.0"N 86°19'41.5"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":17" />	Michigan	23'<ref name=":5" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":5" />	Gravity, Earth<ref name=":5" />	4.4<ref name=":2" />	1895<ref name=":5" />	Indiana & Michigan  Power Company<ref name=":5" />	3,895<ref name=":5" />	41°50'20.7"N 86°21'04.5"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	30'<ref name=":6" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":6" />	Gravity, Earth<ref name=":6" />	1.2<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":2" />	1873<ref name=":6" />	Indiana & Michigan  Power Company<ref name=":6" />	5,750<ref name=":6" />	Template:Coord
Elkhart Dam<ref name=":17" />	Indiana				3.4<ref name=":17" />	1913<ref name=":17" />	American Electric Power<ref name=":17" />
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	13'<ref name=":7" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":7" />	Arch, Earth<ref name=":7" />	1.3<ref name=":2" />	1914<ref name=":7" />	French Hydro, LLC<ref name=":7" />	1,600<ref name=":7" />	41°49'03.4"N 86°15'32.8"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> AKA Niles Dam	Michigan	22'<ref name=":8" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":8" />	Gravity, Earth<ref name=":8" />		1887<ref name=":8" />	French Paper Company<ref name=":8" />	1,600<ref name=":8" />	41°49'03.6"N 86°15'32.9"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	14'<ref name=":9" />	Recreation<ref name=":9" />	Earth<ref name=":9" />		1837<ref name=":9" />	City of Hillsdale<ref name=":9" />	100<ref name=":9" />	41°54'54.6"N 84°37'30.8"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	9'<ref name=":10" />	Recreation<ref name=":10" />	Gravity, Earth<ref name=":10" />		1872<ref name=":10" />	Private Ownership, Jack Mosley<ref name=":10" />	170<ref name=":10" />	41°58'24.0"N 84°39'36.0"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	8'<ref name=":11" />	Other<ref name=":11" />	Earth<ref name=":11" />		1846<ref name=":11" />	Memorial Mile Club, Inc<ref name=":11" />	52<ref name=":11" />	42°02'05.6"N 84°44'10.1"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	16'	Retired Hydro				Village of Colon
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":17" />	Michigan	23'<ref name=":12" />	Hydroelectric, Recreation<ref name=":12" />	Gravity, Earth<ref name=":12" />	1.68<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":17" />	1920<ref name=":12" />	Indiana & Michigan  Power Company<ref name=":12" />	4,256<ref name=":12" />	41°48'20.0"N 85°44'59.8"W
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	20.3'<ref name=":13" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":13" />	Gravity, Earth<ref name=":13" />	.417<ref name=":2" />	1923<ref name=":13" />	Village of Union City<ref name=":13" />	5,000<ref name=":13" />	42°02'39.3"N 85°12'10.8"W
South Bend Dam<ref name=":17" />	Indiana		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>		2.5<ref name=":18" />	1859<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":18" />
Sturgis Dam<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":14">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	25'<ref name=":14" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":14" />	Buttress, Earth<ref name=":14" />	2.2<ref name=":2" />	1913<ref name=":14" />	City of Sturgis<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":14" />	9,300<ref name=":14" />	41°58'15.2"N 85°32'18.1"W
Three Rivers Dam AKA Fairbanks Morse Dam<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":15">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Michigan	16'<ref name=":15" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":15" />	Gravity, Earth<ref name=":15" />	.9<ref name=":2" />	1917<ref name=":15" />	Grande Pointe Power<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":15" />	902<ref name=":15" />	41°56'27.0"N 85°37'29.8"W
Twin Branch Dam<ref name=":16">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Indiana	41'<ref name=":16" />	Hydroelectric<ref name=":16" />	Gravity, Timber Crib, Earth<ref name=":16" />	4.8<ref name=":2" />	1903<ref name=":16" />	Indiana & Michigan  Power Company<ref name=":16" /><ref name=":2" />	10,000<ref name=":16" />	Template:Coord

Crossings

Saint Joseph River crossings are located in towns or cities within seven counties of two states. {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=Template:AmboxTemplate:Main other }}

List of Crossings

Name	Type	City	County	State	Location
CSX Grand Rapids Subdivision	Railroad	St. Joseph	Berrien	Michigan
Template:Jct (Blossomland Bridge)	Michigan Highway				Template:Coord
Template:Jct	Interstate business loop	St. Joseph/Benton Harbor border
Napier Avenue	City Street	St. Joseph/St. Joseph Charter Township border
Template:Jct	Interstate Highway	Royalton Township/Benton Charter Township border
Template:Jct	Michigan highway	Royalton Township/Benton Charter Township border
Template:Jct	US Route	Sodus Township/Oronoko Charter Township border
Template:Jct (East Ferry Street)	Michigan highway	Berrien Springs			Template:Coord
Template:Jct	US Route	Oronoko Charter Township/Berrien Township border			Template:Coord
Walton Road	County Road	Buchanan/Buchanan Township border
Template:Jct	US Route	Niles Charter Township
Amtrak Michigan Line	Railroad	Niles
Template:Jct	Michigan Highway
Template:Jct (Pulaski Highway)	US Route	Niles Charter Township/Bertrand Township border
West Bertrand Road	County road	Niles Charter Township/Bertrand Township border			Template:Coord
Auten Road	County road	German Township/Clay Township border	St. Joseph	Indiana
Darden Road	County road	German Township/Clay Township border
Template:Jct (Cleveland Road)	City street	Clay Township/South Bend border
Template:Jct/Template:Jct (Indiana Toll Road)	Interstate Highway	South Bend
Coal Line Trail rail trail	Former railroad
West Angela Boulevard	City Street
Template:Jct (Michigan Street)	City street
East LaSalle Street	City Street
East Colfax Avenue	City Street
East Jefferson Boulevard	City Street
Template:Jct (South Eddy Street)	City Street
East Sample Street	City Street
Railroad	Railroad
Twyckenham Drive	City Street
South Ironwood Drive	City Street	Mishawaka
Logan Street	City Street
North Main Street	City Street
North Cedar Street	City Street
East Mishawaka Avenue	City Street
Template:Jct (Capital Avenue)	City Street
North Bittersweet Road	City Street
Ash Road (former Template:Jct)	City Street		St. Joseph County/Elkhart County border
Template:Jct (South Nappanee Street)	City Street	Elkhart	Elkhart
Bridge Street	City Street
West Lexington Avenue	City Street
Sherman Street	City Street
Main Street	City Street
Island Park access	Trail
	Railroad
Johnson Street	City Street
Template:Jct	County Road	Concord Township/Osolo Township/Washington Township border
Template:Jct (North Division Street)	City Street	Bristol
Template:Jct/Template:Jct (Indiana Toll Road)	Interstate Highway
Template:Jct	US Route	Mottville	St. Joseph	Michigan	Template:Coord
Camelback bridge (Old Template:Jct)	Pedestrian bridge
Template:Jct	US Route	Constantine Township			Template:Coord
Template:Jct (North Washington Street)	City Street	Constantine			Template:Coord
Withers Road	County Road
Constantine Road	County Road
Template:Jct	Michigan Highway	Three Rivers			Template:Coord
Sixth Street	City Street
Langley Covered Bridge (Covered Bridge Road)	County Road	Lockport Township			Template:Coord
S. Nottawa Street	County Road	Mendon			Template:Coord
Template:Jct	Michigan Highway	Mendon Township/Leonidas Township border			Template:Coord
South Broadway Street	City Street	Union City	Branch County
11 Mile Road	County Road	Burlington	Calhoun County		Template:Coord
Template:Jct	Interstate Highway	Tekonsha			Template:Coord
Template:Jct (S. Chicago Street)	Michigan Highway	Litchfield	Hillsdale County		Template:Coord
Template:Jct/Template:Jct (W. Chicago Street)	US Route/Michigan Highway	Jonesville			Template:Coord

See also

• List of Indiana rivers
• List of Michigan rivers

Further reading

• Template:Cite book
• Webster, Mildred E. and Krause, Fred (1986). French St. Joseph: Le Poste De La Rivière St. Joseph. n.p. Mildred E. Webster.

External links

• Template:Cite AV media
• Friends of the St. Joe River Association, Inc. (FotSJR)
• Saint Joseph River Watershed Website
• St. Joseph River Interstate Anadromous Fish Project
• Michigan DNR Fisheries Special Report No. 24--Executive Summary on the Saint Joseph River
• USGS Paw Paw River Flow Data at Riverside, Michigan (The Paw Paw is the last major tributary of the Saint Joseph before it flows into Lake Michigan)
• USGS St. Joseph River Flow Data at Niles, Michigan
• USGS St. Joseph River Flow Data at Mottville, Michigan
• USGS St. Joseph River Flow Data at Three Rivers, Michigan
• USGS St. Joseph River Flow Data at Burlington, Michigan
• East Race Waterway - South Bend Parks and Recreation