South Bend, Indiana, has a rich and diverse history. Due to its historical significance, many history buffs visit the town to take in what history has left behind. The following is a brief history of this amazingly wonderful city.
Early history
The Potawatomi Indians were the first inhabitants of South Bend, and they established a village by the river that would be known as St. Joseph River.
The city of South Bend, Indiana, traces its roots to a French explorer who set foot on the banks of what is now Riverview Cemetery in December 1679. Two years later, he met with Native American leaders at this site and concluded agreements that would be called “The Miami Treaties.” In 1820, Pierre Navarre built his cabin on the north side of St. Joseph’s river – today, we know it as The Notre Dame Campus!
Between 1820 and 1830, the first settlers started arriving in what would become South Bend. The log trading posts and cabins of Pierre Navarre of the American Fur Company and Alexis Coquillard were among some of the earliest buildings. These shelters quickly became homes for families who had come to take advantage of Indiana’s newly-established land grant laws that allowed them ownership rights at a low cost or even free if they agreed to stay on their plot long enough before selling it back. Pierre Navarre’s cabin is one of the oldest surviving buildings in South Bend. Visitors can visit this historic cabin in Leeper Park today.
As the population of South Bend grew quickly, the people of South Bend became hungry for a more convenient life. As a way to meet this demand, new stores popped up all over downtown.
Famous businesses throughout the city’s history
The Studebaker brothers, Clement and Henry, arrived in South Bend from Pennsylvania. Together, this dynamic duo opened their blacksmith shop and then they starting producing wagons and carriages. A few years later, they decided to expand and turn themselves into an automobile company. Their manufacturing plant in South Bend continued producing cars until the automotive decline in 1963.
Another businessman that heavily influenced the local economy was James Oliver. James Oliver and his family were the first of many to settle in South Bend. He had a dream of establishing an iron empire, which he started by investing in St. Joseph Iron Company before launching his own company, Oliver Plow Works.
The University of Notre Dame
The next major event in the history of South Bend is the arrival of The University of Notre Dame in 1886. Led by Father Edward Sorin and his six Catholic brothers, this institution was to be a school for Catholic boys and young men from all over Indiana.
In 1889, President William McKinley delivered an address at the school’s Golden Jubilee celebration saying that “Notre Dame has always been a pioneer in doing things for the first time and she is especially a pioneer institution.”
In response to World War I, Notre Dame saw its enrollment double as many Catholic young men enlisted. In 1919, Father John O’Hara became president of the university with an emphasis on academic excellence and modernization.
The history of South Bend, Indiana, is much more than just the history of its people. It’s also a history of the institutions that have made this city great, like The University of Notre Dame and St. Joseph Catholic Church. They’ve each contributed to what we know today as “the golden age” in South Bend from about 1880-1930.
The 1900s
The prosperity of the downtown area and its street scenes were so great that by the early 1900s, it had been developed into a series of vibrant markets with bustling commerce. The Great Depression, however, caused these prosperous businesses to be devastated before they could recover fully until after World War II.