Our Town Benton Harbor, MI

Get Your Benton Harbor DVD
Original Airdate: November 27th, 2017 @ 8pm and 9:30pm
Re-air Airdates: Thursday, April 5th, 2018 at 8:00pm

Meet The Storytellers

  • Tom Reybuck & Rick Ast Topic: House of David Echoes/ Vintage Baseball

    A gentleman's game

  • Neil Boreczky Topic: A Sound Hobby

    Bridging old and new technology

  • Jayme Cousins Topic: Mason Jar Café

    Eating your way back to health

  • Darlene Damaske Topic: Upton Machine Company Toys

    An unlikely toy company

  • Archie Davis Topic: Jean Klock Park

    Summer memories and old school R&B

  • Ronald Evans & Jaz'Mine Davis Topic: Benton Harbor High School Marching Band

    The tigers are making a comeback

  • Chad Dee Topic: Fab Lab

    Lake Michigan College's idea laboratory

  • Sanjay Gaikwad Topic: Cricket

    A new Saturday pastime

  • Michael Hoyh Topic: Remembering Benton Harbor

    Downtown, neighborhoods and a familiar stop

  • Richard Hunt Topic: Sculpture artist

    With these hands

  • Tom Hurst & Bjorn Kavanaugh Topic: Cycle-Re-Cycle

    Teaching kids how to ride for life

  • Emma Kinnard Topic: FreshStart Children's Garden

    Planting, nurturing and growing young minds

  • Pastor Willie Lark Topic: Larks Bar-B-Que

    Sticky goodness

  • Mike Mahler Topic: Sarett Nature Center

    Overlooking nature

  • Tami Miller Topic: Krasl Sculpture Collection

    What public arts says about its community

  • Tony Zawierucha & Michael Moyer Topic: Wine & Viticulture Technology

    Winemaking in Southwest Michigan

  • Jeff Noel Topic: Harbor Shores

    Paradise by a great lake

  • Brad Piedt Topic: Skellville

    A humorous look at mortality

  • Jeanne Simpson & Jerry Price Topic: First Choice tours

    Seeing the Twin cities with new eyes

  • Doug Reybuck Topic: Benton Harbor Fruit Market

    Memories of the heart of Benton Harbor

  • Brandon DeJaynes & Simon Rusk Topic: The Livery

    A place to gather

  • John Sauve and Anna Russo Sieber Topic: I Am The Greatest

    A hero's shadow stands over the Twin Cities

  • Ron Taylor Topic: The House of David/ Mary's City of David

    A bit of history puts Benton Harbor of the map

  • Imani Lee & Jaylen Vinson Topic: Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor

    Programs building tomorrow's leaders

  • Beth Haire-Lewis & Mamie Yarbrough Topic: Gene Harris Coming Home Coming Together

    A summer kickoff jazz concert brings everyone together

  • Mert Ungor & Lexi Ziebarth Topic: Water Street Glassworks

    Glassblowing - art of its own

A Little About Benton Harbor

The Location

Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo, and northwest of South Bend, Indiana. In 2010, the population was 10,038 according to the census. It is the smaller, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles–Benton Harbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with 156,813 people.

Benton Harbor and the city of St. Joseph are separated by the St. Joseph River and are known locally as the "Twin Cities". Fairplain and Benton Heights are unincorporated areas adjacent to Benton Harbor.

The History

Benton Harbor was founded by Henry C. Morton, Sterne Brunson and Charles Hull, who all now have or have had schools named after them. Benton Harbor was mainly swampland bordered by the Paw Paw River, through which a canal was built, hence the "harbor" in the city's name. In 1860, the village was laid out by Brunson, Morton, Hull and others, and given the name of Brunson Harbor.