The Morton House

This house, built in 1849 by Eleazar Morton and his son Henry, was occupied until 1936 by four generations of Mortons. The oak-framed barn was built in 1840. Members of the Morton family, pioneers in this area, where prominent in Benton Harbor's early development. The porch on the house was often called the "Indian Hotel" because Henry Morton allowed the Potawatomi Indians to sleep here on their way to St. Joseph to sell their baskets. J. Stanley Morton, president of the Graham and Morton Transportation Company, modernized the house and added the pillars in 1912. He left his house to the Benton Harbor Federation of Womens Clubs in appreciation of its civic work.