Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Niles
city, Berrien county, southwestern Michigan, U.S. It lies along the St. Joseph River 10 miles (16 km) north of South Bend, Ind. It is the only locality in the state to have been under the control of France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. The site became a stagecoach stop on the Sauk Trail between Chicago and Detroit and was permanently settled in 1828 and named for publisher Hezekiah Niles. It developed as a centre for the farm produce of the St. Joseph River valley; manufactures include paper products, industrial and assembly-line equipment, wire, and commercial refrigerators. Writer Ring Lardner and automobile manufacturers Horace E. and John F. Dodge were Niles natives. Inc. village, 1835; city, 1859. Pop. (2000) city, 12,204; Niles-Benton Harbor MSA, 162,453; (2005 est.) city, 11,738; Niles-Benton Harbor MSA, 162,611.
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