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NILES — A book documenting and celebrating the history of Niles is now in development.

The Niles City Council voted Monday to approve and authorize a contract from Arcadia Publishing for a pictorial book on the history of Niles.

In August, Arcadia Publishing contacted the Niles History Center to inquire about authoring a book on the history of Niles for their Images of America series. Arcadia is the nation’s leading publisher of regional and local photographic history books and have published books on local communities including St. Joseph and Dowagiac.

As the History Center has a large collection of historical images, NHC Director Christina Arseneau believes this would be a worthwhile project for the community. 

“The main emphasis behind this is our History Center really trying to deliver the message of what Niles used to be and is today,” said City Administrator Ric Huff. “History buffs tend to find that appealing and interesting to them and so they’re trying to fill that niche amongst their job of preserving and telling the history of Niles.”

There is not currently a comprehensive Niles history book in print. Christina Arseneau and Mollie Watson would co-author the book, which Arseneau anticipated will be available sometime in 2026.

“There have been a few Niles history books over the years, but it’s probably been since the 1980s there was anything published at all,” Arseneau said. “We could certainly add from that time period on and we have more historic photos that we can use.”

Arseneau added that the book offers the opportunity to include more women’s history and African American history into the overall story of Niles.

“There are a lot of groups that don’t get included in some of those older narratives and that’s something that we want to correct and tell those stories as well,” she said. “We really have an amazing history here in Niles, so it’s a great opportunity to share that.”

Arcadia has previously published thousands of pictorial histories on communities and topics around the country. They are a full-service trade publisher, they absorb all the costs of publishing the book and provide sales and marketing support after its release. They pay royalties on each book sold and give authors the option to purchase highly discounted books to resell for fundraising. The contract is included with the report.

“We know from our visitations from the programming that we do that there is an interest in history in Niles. From people who have lived here for a long time and then even newcomers, we have a lot of visible historic buildings, historic sites and they want to know that history, too. This is an opportunity for us to do that.”