A new book on the history of Niles is in the works.
The Niles City Council this week approved a contract with Arcadia Publishing for the project. Niles History Center Director Christina Arseneau tells us Arcadia approached the city with the idea. It’s published pictorial history books about several Michigan towns, including St. Joseph.
The Niles History Center is now working with Arcadia.
“So we started gathering some photos,” Arseneau said. “We have a huge photo collection at the Niles History Center, and we sort of roughly divided it up into chapters. It will probably be about eight chapters, and other than that, we’re just starting to get into the process of how we’re going to organize it.”
Arseneau says the book will largely focus on the parts of Niles history that produced pictures.
“People have been living here for thousands of years. The French built a trading post here in 1691. So there’s a lot of history there. There’s no photographs. So our book probably isn’t going to go quite as far back to that time period, but certainly that’s going to be mentioned. That’s part of the developmental story as well.”
Arseneau says she also wants the book to reflect some African American and women’s history, things that sometimes are overlooked.
Arseneau expects the book will become available in the spring of 2026. It will be sold at the History Center as well as local shops.
