Museums and Historic Sites


Supplied by The Former Four Flags Area Council on Tourism

Four Flags Hotel

Four Flags

At the corner of 4th and Main Streets in Niles, this hotel was built in 1925 at a cost of $350,000 and was considered the most modern in Southwestern Michigan. It's reputed to have hosted Al Capone, Eleanor Roosevelt, Knute Rockne, and Truman Capote. It was the first business to adopt the name "Four Flags" and served as the cultural center of Niles for most of the 20th Century. 

Chapin Mansion

Chapin Mansion exterior

Henry and Ruby Chapin constructed their magnificent home in 1882.  Donated to the City of Niles in 1933, it served as City Hall and is now administered by the Niles History Center. Guided tours are held from May to December. Special programs and events will take place throughout the year.  

Fort St. Joseph Museum

FSJ Museum

Located in the former carriage house of the beautiful Victorian period Chapin Mansion, the museum tells the story of Niles from the prehistoric era to the present.  

 Niles Rail Depot


Amtrak Depot

Just off North 5th Street, the Niles Rail Depot is open during normal business hours as a working depot. The sandstone building was completed in 1881. Its Neo-Romanesque style made it a real showplace, intended to impress visitors from the East with this last passenger stop before the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Formal gardens were established in 1893 with a floating garden, a fish pond, a gazebo and a greenhouse that supplied flowers for dining cars as well as for thousands of passengers who traveled through Niles, thus the affectionate title of "The Garden City." The depot has appeared in movies such as the "The Continental Divide" with John Belushi, "Midnight Run" with Robert DeNiro and "Only the Lonely" with Maureen O'Hara and John Candy.

Fort St. Joseph Site

Fort St Joe Rock

At the corner of Bond and Fort Street in Niles is the huge boulder that marks the site of the old Fort St. Joseph. The seven ton boulder was moved in 1912 from a nearby farm largely financed by nickels from school children. A historical marker recounts the history of the fort from 1691 to 1781. Fort St. Joseph was important in the early fur trade, and settlement of the surrounding area.

Father Allouez Grave Site

Father Allouez Grave


Across Bond and just north of the Fort, is the grave site of Father Claude Allouez who was the first "black robe" to arrive in Niles to teach and convert the natives. He baptized over 10,000 before his death in 1689. The grave site was part of the St. Joseph Mission which was the first mission in lower Michigan, Indiana, and lower Wisconsin.

Silverbrook Cemetery

Silverbrook Cemetery

Named for the brook that runs through it, Silverbrook Cemetery is older than the State of Michigan, having been founded in 1836 with lots sold to the public in 1838. Famous families buried in the Cemetery include the parents and sister of Montgomery Ward of catalogue fame; the family of Niles native journalist and sports writer, Ring Lardner; and the parents of John and Horace Dodge. Civil War figures interred include Colonel Francis Quinn of the Michigan 12th, and General Henry A. Morrow of the 24th Michigan Infantry.

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