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The community of Union Pier, Michigan is situated about five miles from the Indiana border, between Lake Michigan and the Galien River.

Union Pier is just southwest of Lakeside, and part of a group of communities known as Harbor County, which includes Grand Beach, Harbert, Lakeside, New Buffalo, Sawyer, Three Oaks, and Union Pier.

Union Pier spans Chikaming Township and New Buffalo Township, bordering on Three Oaks Township, in Berrien County, in the southwestern Lower Peninsula.

The chief routes through the community are I-94, Red Arrow Highway, and Union Pier Road.

Michigan cities and villages within twenty-five miles of Union Pier include New Buffalo, Three Oaks, Grand Beach, Michiana, Bridgman, Galien, Baroda, Stevensville, Buchanan, Shoreham, Berrien Springs, and St. Joseph, while the unincorporated communities of Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, and New Troy are within ten miles. Indiana localities within twenty-five miles include Galena, Michiana Shores, Springfield, Long Beach, Michigan City, Trail Creek, La Porte, Beverly Shores, New Carlisle, and Hudson Lake.

Union Pier was originally known as Townline for its location on the line between Chickaming and New Buffalo townships. C.H. Goodwin, John F. Gowdy, and six brothers named McCartan joined together to build a sawmill, and later a pier. This union and the pier that they built gave the community its name, Union Pier.

A post office was established in Union Pier on May 17, 1870, with George Vandy as postmaster. In 1873, the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad constructed a wooden Howe Truss bridge over the Galien River at Union Pier, and a depot was opened near that location. The Pere Marquette Railway later took over the operation of the depot and railroad tracks through Union Pier.

In the summer of 1914, a Bohemian colony that included the writers, Sherwood Anderson and Ben Hecht, vacationed at a resort known as Camp's Cottages in Union Pier. Local residents became infuriated over some of the activities that took place there, making things so uncomfortable for the vacationers that they didn't return the following year.

At the conclusion of World War II, several Lithuanian immigrants settled in Union Pier, although only a few Lithuanian Americans remain in the area today.

Public K-12 students in Union Pier generally attend campuses of New Buffalo Area Schools, although a portion of the community attends campuses of the River Valley School District.

The focus of this portion of our web guide is on the unincorporated community known as Union Pier, Michigan. Online resources representing businesses, industries, schools, places of worship, organizations, attractions, events, entertainment venues, and recreational opportunities within the community are appropriate for this category.

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