24/7 Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup in Watervliet, MI

"Watervliet" means "flowing water" in Dutch, from "water" and "vliet," a word for a small stream — a fitting name for this Berrien County city on the Paw Paw River.

Watervliet began in 1833 when Sumner and Wheeler built a sawmill on the Paw Paw River; the settlement was called "Waterford," and by 1848 its mill was the largest lumber operation in Berrien County.

Isaac Swain bought the mill in 1848 and became the first postmaster in 1849; because another Michigan place had already claimed the name Waterford, the village took the name Watervliet.

Watervliet was incorporated as a village in 1891, and in 1893 its old sawmill was torn down and replaced by a paper mill.

The Watervliet Paper Company, formed in 1910, began making fine coated paper in 1912 and employed about 400 people over three shifts; the mill became part of Hammermill in 1956, produced its last paper in 1994, and was demolished in 2002, with the old mill dam removed in 2011 to restore the Paw Paw River's natural flow.

In 1905 Watervliet became the home base of the barnstorming "Cherokee Indian Baseball Team," organized by John Olsen and his wife Maud Nelson, who was billed as the undisputed women's champion pitcher of the world.

Watervliet had 1,669 residents and 671 households in the 2020 census, with a median age of 38.8 years, down from a peak of 2,059 residents in 1970.

The city is completely surrounded by Watervliet Charter Township but is governed independently, and the resort community around Paw Paw Lake lies just to its northwest.

Watervliet Public Schools operates six schools in and around the city, including Watervliet High School, Watervliet Middle School, and North and South Elementary Schools.