Jonesville, MI

Jonesville is a Hillsdale County city in southern Michigan, about 20 miles north of the point where Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana meet. The 2020 census counted 2,176 residents. Benaiah Jones settled here in 1828 where the Sauk Trail met the St. Joseph River; U.S. 12 and M-99 still cross in the heart of downtown. The village became a home-rule city in 2014, giving an old river crossing a newer municipal frame. The St. Joseph River runs north through town beside the 1.4-mile Jerry Russell Trail, a paved rail-trail that connects with the North Country Trail.

Downtown adds the Sauk Theatre, Gallery 49, Powers Clothing, and the Grosvenor Victorian home and museum. Martinrea supplies a large manufacturing presence, while Andrew Mack Brush Company and Jonesville Lumber keep long-running local businesses in the picture. The annual Riverfest also uses the river as the town's gathering place. Jonesville's local scoop is a river-and-road town where a first-school story, long-running downtown businesses, a theatre, and a rail trail all meet in one small center.