Niles, MI Road Trips
Plan drives from Niles, MI with practical route pages for distance, drive time, fuel cost, road character, and places to stop along the way.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Trip Routes
1
Longest Drive
212.7 mi
Sterling Heights, MI
Quickest Drive
4h 5m
Sterling Heights, MI
Plan Around Niles, MI
Popular Incoming Routes
Useful if Niles, MI is the arrival point and you want the strongest routes into the city first.
Niles, MI by the Numbers
Recent demographic snapshot from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
Population
11,838
Median Income
$47,815
Median Home Value
$115,400
Median Age
39.2
Source: US Census Bureau ACS 5-year (public domain). See our methodology for details.
Niles, MI at a Glance
Founded
1827
Elevation
686 ft
Area
6 mi²
Notable People from Niles, MI
A sampling of people born in Niles, MI.
Ring Lardner
1885–1933
American sportswriter, short story writer (1885–1933)
Horace Elgin Dodge
1868–1920
American businessman (1868–1920)
John Francis Dodge
1864–1920
American businessman (1864–1920)
Greydon Clark
1943
American film director, producer, and actor
Robert Payne
1938
American ornithologist
Lottie Wilson Jackson
1854–1914
African-American suffragist
Landmarks & Historic Sites
Attractions and heritage-registered places located in Niles, MI.
Fort St. Joseph
fort and mission in Michigan
Niles station
railway station in Niles, Michigan
Ring Lardner House
historic house in Michigan, United States
Niles Downtown Historic District
historic district in Niles, Michigan
City data from Wikidata (Q2442951), available under CC0. Photos from Wikimedia Commons under their respective licenses. See our methodology for details.
Traveler Guide to Niles, MI
Niles is a city of 11,000 people (2019) in West Michigan. Niles lies on the banks of the St. Joseph River, at the site of the French Fort St. Joseph, which was built in 1697 to protect the Jesuit Mission established in 1691. Between 1820 and 1865, Niles was an integral part of the Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape from as far south as New Orleans through the Heartland, and eventually into Canada.
After 1761, it was held by the British and was captured on May 25, 1763, by Native Americans during Pontiac's Rebellion. The British retook the fort but it was not re-garrisoned and served as a trading post. During the American Revolutionary War, the fort was held for a short time by a Spanish force. The occupation of the fort by the four nations of France, Britain, Spain, and the United States has earned Niles the nickname City of Four Flags. The town of Niles was settled in 1827. The town was named after Hezekiah Niles, editor of the Niles Register, a Baltimore newspaper.
1 Fort St. Joseph Museum, 508 E Main St (at 5th St), ☏ +1 269 845-4054. W-F 10AM-4PM, Sa 10AM-3PM. Features exhibits on Fort St. Joseph, a French fort built in 1691. Located in the former carriage house of the Victorian-style Chapin Mansion; the main house is now Niles city hall. Free. 2 Henry A. Chapin House (Chapin Mansion), 508 E. Main St. (updated Jan 2020) Fernwood Botanical Garden, 13988 Range Line Rd, ☏ +1 269-695-6491. $10 adults, $7 seniors. 3 Riverfront Park. East side of the St. Joseph River from Wayne to Fort St (updated Jan 2020) 4 Island Park. entrance off Parkway, south of Broadway (updated Jan 2020) 5 Southside Park, 15th and Silverbrook Ave. (updated Jan 2020) 6 Madeline Bertrand County Park, 3038 Adams Rd, ☏ +1 269 683-8280. (updated Jan 2020)
Iron Shoe Distillery, 3 North 3rd St, ☏ +1 269 262-0454, [email protected]. (updated Jan 2020) Prime Table Restaurant, 1915 11th St, ☏ +1 269 684-2112. (updated Jan 2020) Pizza Transit, 215 E. Main St, ☏ +1 269 684-6600. (updated Jan 2020) Jim's Smokin Cafe, 220 E Main St, ☏ +1 269 449-8144. Located in the Paris Soda Company. (updated Jan 2020) Front Street Pizza Pub, 510 N. Front St, ☏ +1 269 687-4992. (updated Jan 2020)
Quality Inn & Suites, 1265 South 11th St, ☏ +1 269 684-3900. (updated Jan 2020) Spaulding Lake Campground, 2305 Bell St, ☏ +1 269 684-1393, [email protected]. (updated Jan 2020) Holiday Inn Express & Suites Niles, 1000 Moore Dr, ☏ +1 269 684-0300. Check-in: 3:00 PM, check-out: 11:00 AM. (updated Jan 2020)
U.S. Highways 12 and 31. 1 Niles station, 598 Dey St. (updated Oct 2023) Amtrak, ☏ +1 215-856-7924, toll-free: +1-800-872-7245. Operates train service around the United States of America. (updated Mar 2022) Routes serving Niles: Wolverine Service operates several times daily between Pontiac and Chicago including stops along the way in Troy, Royal Oak, Detroit, Dearborn, Ann Arbor, Jackson, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Niles, and New Buffalo. Blue Water operates daily between Port Huron and Chicago including stops in Flint, East Lansing, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Niles, and New Buffalo. 2 Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (NLE IATA). General aviation only
Travel tips adapted from Niles (Michigan) on Wikivoyage, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Content summarized; visit the source for the full article. See our methodology for how we use it.
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