White Pigeon, Michigan

White Pigeon is a village in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,522 at the 2010 census. The village is located within White Pigeon Township.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.41 square miles (3.65 km²), of which 1.39 square miles (3.60 km²) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km²) is water. The White Pigeon River flows through the south end of town, emptying into the St. Joseph River.

Major highways

US 12

US 131

History

White Pigeon was incorporated in 1837. Downtown White Pigeon boasts a historic building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the United States Land Office, which is the oldest surviving U.S. Land office in the state of Michigan. Out of this office the U.S. government sold land in Michigan for $1.25 an acre in the 1830s to settlers of Western Michigan.

The town was named after the Potawatomi Indian Chief Wahbememe, which means Chief White Pigeon. According to legend, while he was at the gathering of the chiefs in Detroit, Wahbememe heard plans to attack the settlement which is now White Pigeon. The Chief was a friend to the white settlers and didn't want to see harm come to them so he set out on foot and ran almost 150 miles to the settlement to warn the people. After running that long distance and giving his warning, he collapsed and soon died from exhaustion. His remains are buried in the town, and the site is now part of the National Register of Historic Places.