Niles, Michigan...the City of four flags!

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History

Historic Timeline

1920
1925
1930
1940

1960
1990
2010

1923 - City of Niles Fire Department gets its first pumper truck, a 750 gallon American LaFrance

1925 - Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Plym donate $100,000 to purchase and renovate a building which became Pawating Hospital.

1927 - Simplicity Pattern moves their company to Niles

1930 - Chapin mansion sold to the City of Niles for use as City Hall and Fort Saint Joseph Museum

1933 - First National Bank of Niles (Later Old Kent Bank-Southwest) opens

1943 - Rosie the Riveter helped Kawneer produce over 300 aircraft sub-assemblies

1956 - Niles High School rebuilt at a cost of over $2 million

1963 - Niles Public Library opens at its current site

1966 - Local musician Tommy "James" Jackson and his band the Shondell’s hit #1 on the Billboard list of the top 40 songs with their song Hanky Panky.

A drawing of Castle Rest, the mansion which later became Pawating Hospital

Henry Austin Chapin

Picture of women working in the Kawneer Mfg. Plant during WWII -

- Tommy James and the Shondells

1998 Design	2007 Design

Information for this timeline provided by Nancy Watts-Styles, historian and co-author of Niles, A Pictorial Guide. Nancy is the owner of Historic Interpretations, a provider of historical and multi-cultural research, planning and interpretive consulting services.

Historic Timeline

Community section