MICHIGAN CITY, a town of the United States, in Laporte county, Indiana, on the south-east shore of Lake Michigan, 40 miles east-south-east of Chicago. As a lake-port and a junction for several railroads, it is a place of considerable prosperity. It is the largest lumber-market in the State, and one of the largest in the west, and has numerous manufacturing establishments. The northern State prison (with 577 convicts at the close of 1880) is one of the principal buildings. The population increased from 3985 in 1870 to over 10,000 in 1883.