From a 19th-century farming community, Benton Harbor grew into an inviting and thriving resort town, and then into an industrial boomtown. Benton Harbor factories shipped goods down the St. Joseph River and on to ports throughout the world. By the 1950s, its industries were in decline, leaving thousands of unemployed workers in the wake. Through Cities of Promise, state and local agencies are working together to reinvent an economy and restore prosperity.