Fort St. Joseph (Niles, Michigan - Berrien County) boulder -- 1913 marker - to be re-dedicated July 2013

from Coverage in NILES DAILY STAR (Leader Publications): Getting a seven-ton boulder to Fort and Bond Streets in Niles, Michigan to commemorate Fort St. Joseph was quite a production, so it’s fitting there will be quite a production from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday to commemorate its 100th anniversary at the south city limits. Fort St. Joseph Historical Association and Support the Fort Inc. are going all out July 6, 2013 to recall the 12-by-10-by 11-foot stone’s dedication on July 4, 1913, which included a two-mile parade through town. Everyone who owned an automobile drove in the 1913 parade. The dedication of the Fort St. Joseph site and unveiling of the huge rock drew national attention. Chicago newspapers described the floats as outstanding. The big rock came from the Peter Malone farm about a mile south of Niles, Michigan (Niles Twp.). In 1910, the historical society organized to mark the fort site and led community efforts to find a suitable marker, raising $1,050. A highlight of the 1913 event was an address by Judge Orville Coolidge, author and editor of A Twentieth Century History of Berrien County, published in 1906. In it, he related the almost 100-year history of Fort St. Joseph. His speech will be re-enacted by Niles Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Weigel portraying Judge Coolidge, who told the large gathering in 1913 that had these people failed, the "Fort of the Four Banners," so rich in romantic history, might have passed entirely from the memory of man. Dr. Michael Nassaney, of Western Michigan University and director of the Fort St. Joseph archaeology project, will provide a more contemporary perspective on the fort’s history, informed by digs of the past 15 years. . . [ full story by John Eby at this web location : http://leaderpub.com/2013/07/02/fort-boulder-rededicated-july-6/ ]