The river is marked on the pat as the “Big St. Josef river.”
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The First Ferry and Steamboat Landing
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“Order by the board aforesaid, that a ferry be established at the east end of
Water street [now La Salle avenue], in the town of South Bend, aver the
St. Joseph river, and that there be a tax assessed thereon to the amount
of two dollars; and that N. B. Griffith be licensed to keep the aforesaid
ferry, and that the said Griffith be required to keep a good and sufficient
flat, or boat, to convey conveniently over said river two horses and a
wagon at one time.
“Order by the board aforesaid, that the following be the rates of ferriage at the ferry
established at the town of South Bend, to wit: For each person, 6 ¼ cents;
for a man and a horse, 12 ½ cents; for one horse and a wagon or carriage,
25 cents; for two horses and a wagon, 31 ¼ cents; for each additional horse,
with a wagon as above, 6 ¼ cents; for oxen in wagons the same rate as horses;
for loose cattle, three cents a head; for hogs and sheep, two cents a head.
“Ordered by the board aforesaid, that the said N. B. Griffith be required to keep twelve
hands to attend the aforesaid ferry.”
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| Railroads |
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Sec. 1.-The Lake Shore.—But the increased facilities for public
travel and for commercial transactions, for the marketing of the products of the
soil and the procuring of commodities needed for the use of the people, afforded
by the opening of the Michigan road, adding as they did to the accommodations
furnished by the navigation of the St. Joseph river, as well as by the stage
travel and the wagon traffic over the various other thoroughfares of the
territory watered by the St. Joseph and the Kankakee, could not satisfy the
eager commercial spirit of the people of St. Joseph county. As early as 1832,
as we have seen, Mr. John D. Defrees, in the Northwestern Pioneer, advocated
the encouragement of the building of a railroad into “the St. Joseph country.”
The attention of the people of the state was then chiefly engrossed by the construction
and operation of the Wabash and Erie canal, and the high hopes awakened as
to the great commercial highway connecting Lake Erie and the Wabash river.
However, in February 1835, the legislature passed an act for the incorporation
of a company to be known as the Buffalo & Mississippi railroad company, with
the design to have a railroad constructed from Buffalo to the Mississippi river.
In 1838 a company was organized under this act to build a railroad from the
eastern boundary of the state, to run through South Bend and Michigan City.
General Joseph Orr, of Laporte county, was the active mover in this enterprise.
But little headway could then be made, and the project was abandoned for several
years.
In 1847, the agitation was renewed, and a meeting of persons interested, from Toledo to
Chicago, was held at Mishawaka. At this meeting Thomas S. Stanfield first appeared
as a railroad builder. To the untiring efforts of this eminent man, St. Joseph
county was ultimately indebted for the first railroads that entered its territory.
After Alexis Coquillard, there is no man to whom St. Joseph county is more largely
indebted than to Thomas S. Stanfield. When the time comes in which the county shall
provide for the erection of statues to its distinguished citizens, the figure of
Judge Stanfield, who brought to us our first railroads and opened up to the world
our cities and towns and our splendid farming territory, will not be forgotten.
At this time a corporation known as the Michigan Southern railroad company had constructed
its road from Toledo, Ohio, to Hillsdale, Michigan; and it was proposed that a
corresponding Indiana corporation should be formed to aid in completing the road
to Chicago. This resulted in the formation of the Northern Indiana railroad company.
In 1850 the two companies were consolidated under the name of the Michigan Southern
& Northern Indiana Railroad Company. Desiring to reach Chicago more directly than
could be done through Michigan City, the old charter of the Buffalo & Mississippi
company was resorted to, and the road thus completed by way of Mishawaka, South Bend
and Laporte.
But the rivalry then existing between the Michigan Central railroad company and the Michigan
Southern & Northern Indiana again brought Judge Stanfield’s resourcefulness into action.
When the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana was built as far as White Pigeon, it found itself unable to reach the Indiana line
in a direct route without violating the terms of the charter which it had received
from the state of Michigan. This unfavorable legislation had been enacted through
the influence of the rival railroad; and the result was that the Michigan Southern
must either come to a standstill or else go out of its way at a considerable loss.
In this juncture Judge Stanfield proposed to the company that they should furnish
him with the means, and he would procure the right of way and build an independent
line of railway, four miles in length, extending from White Pigeon to the Indiana
line. This was done; and for ten years this four miles of road, known as the Portage
railroad, was nominally owned by Judge Stanfield, but leased from him by the company
and operated as a part of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana.
To aid the enterprise, St. Joseph county agreed to subscribe for forty thousand dollars of the
capital stock of the company; but the private subscriptions by the people proved
sufficient for the building of the road, and the country subscription was not needed.
Even the stock subscribed by the citizens was taken off their hands by Judge Stanfield
who found eastern capitalist glad to take it, so that the building of this great highway
of commerce, so vital to the prosperity of our community, was completed without cost to
the county of to any of its people.
The day when the first through train from the east reached Mishawaka and South Bend is memorable
in the history of St. Joseph county. This was on Saturday evening, October 4, 1851;
and when the locomotive, John Stryker, came puffing into the stations it was received
with all demonstrations of joy by the assembled multitudes. Cheer after cheer came from
the enthusiastic people whose hopes were thus gratified. Forty-eight rounds of cannon
and brilliant bonfires bore the joyous intelligence to the sight and hearing of the eager
inhabitants who were themselves unable to be present. Almost equal enthusiasm was manifested
on the incoming and outgoing of the trains on the ensuing Monday, and for days afterwards.
It was the culmination of the efforts and hopes of the people, ever since the first settlement
of the county. After the consolidation of this great railroad with the Lake Shore road from
Buffalo to Toledo the name of the consolidated railroad was changed to the Lake Shore & Michigan
Southern. It is commonly spoken of as the Lake Shore railroad.
Sec. 2.—The Michigan Central.—In 1867 a company was formed at Jackson, Michigan, designed
to aid in extending the Grand Trunk railroad through Michigan and Indiana to Chicago.
The first plan contemplated going by way of Niles, and then by the most direct line to
Chicago. This would have left South Bend out. The name of the company was afterwards
changed to the Michigan Air Line railroad company, and under this name it began work.
A lack of funds however compelled the company in 1869 to lease its road to the Michigan
Central railroad company. The Air Line road was then rapidly completed from Jackson to
Niles. An Indiana company was next formed to extend the Air Line to South Bend. To this
project the city of South Bend extended its financial aid by subscribing for twenty-five
thousand dollars of capital stock. The Michigan Central leased this South Bend branch
also, and thus the Michigan Central system reached South Bend early in the year 1870.
Thomas S. Stanfield was also the force that secured this extension of the Michigan Central
to our county. It is said that for years this ten mile branch from South Bend to Niles was
the most profitable ten miles of road in the whole Michigan Central system.
Sec. 3—The Grand Trunk.—But the people of St. Joseph county, led by Judge Stanfield, were
not satisfied without making further efforts to secure the passage of the Grand Trunk
extension through Mishawaka and South Bend. Several distinct companies were formed with
this project in view,--first, a company known as the Port Huron 7 Lake Michigan railway
company, to build the road from Port Huron to Flint, Michigan; second, a company called
the Peninsular railway company, to build the road from Lansing by way of Battle Creek to
the Indiana line; third, an Indiana company, to build the road from the Michigan line by
Mishawaka, South Bend and Valparaiso to the Illinois line; fourth, an Illinois company
to extend the road to Chicago; and, fifth, a company to build the gap in the road from
Flint to Lansing, thus completing the road from the Grand Trunk, at Port Huron, to Chicago.
These several companies were consolidated under the name of the Chicago 7 Lake Huron railway
company. The companies were all weak financially and the building of so great a stretch of
railroad was too much for their scant treasuries aided by all the credit that could be obtained.
The result was that the road was for a long time operated by a receiver. In 1879 the Grand
Trunk of Canada became satisfied that it needed this poor insolvent road, in order to secure
connection with Chicago and the great northwest. The road from Port Huron to Chicago, by way
of Mishawaka and South Bend, thus became a part of the Grand Trunk system, one of the great
railroads connecting Montreal, New York and the east with Chicago and the northwest.
Sec. 4—The Division Street Incident.—A painful episode connected with the building of the Grand Trunk
road through South Bend is the wrong done the residents of Division street in that city. By
an ordinance passed through the common council March 2, 1868, the “Peninsular Railway Company
of Indiana” had been authorized to lay its railroad tracks on Division Street. This was done
without any consent from the people on the street. Division street was then one of the most
pleasant of the residence streets of South Bend, and the citizens living along that street
were bitterly opposed to having their beautiful homes blackened with smoke and disturbed with
the rumbling of trains and the shrieking of locomotives day and night,--to say nothing of the
practical closing of the street to public travel and the endangering of the lives of their
families by the incessant passage of trains. The railroad authorities, on the other hand, and
the people of the county generally, while acknowledging the injustice done the residents of
Division street, were yet extremely desirous of having the tracks laid through the city, so
that the great enterprise should be completed on to Chicago. Each party waited anxiously for
the outcome. On August the 31st, 1871, the railroad company, having finished the bridge over
the St. Joseph river and collected all materials needed for laying the ties and rails, gathered
a large force of men and laid their tracks through the city along the devoted street, and then
ran their locomotives and cars over the line, in the face of the angry protest of the residents.
Litigation at once followed and has not been ended even to this day. It is very probable that
the company have long since realized that they did not only an unjust, but also an impolitic
thing, in thus forcing their way along Division street, against the united and persistent
opposition of the people. Notwithstanding the acknowledged benefit of the Grand Trunk road to
South Bend and St. Joseph county, the people have never warmed to the company on account of the
great injustice done in the first instance. Though sympathy, the large majority of the people have
adopted as their own the cause of their wronged fellow citizens on Division street. It would
have been much better for the company to have gone through the city on a line near to the Lake
Shore railroad and in territory already devoted to railroad uses. This lesson, now so evident,
has however been learned too late. The wrong has been done, and it is not easy to see how it may
be repaired. It is but another illustration of the truth, that the end can never justify the means.
An advantage, however great, is too dearly brought when purchased by an act of cruelty or injustice.
Section 5.—Other Railroads.—What was done for South Bend,
Mishawaka, Osceola, New Carlisle and the northern part of the county by bringing her of the great
lines of Lake Shore, Michigan Central and Grand Trunk, was done for Walkerton and the southwest part
of the county by the building of what has long been known as the Lake Erie & Western railroad,
connecting Laporte and Michigan City with Indianapolis; and also the Baltimore & Ohio road, connecting
Washington City, Baltimore and other eastern points with the city of Chicago.
An enterprise of the greatest value to the people of the county was the extension in 1884 and 1885, of the
Vandalia railroads systems from Logansport, by way of Lake Maxinkuckee, Plymouth and Lakeville, to
South Bend. This road brought us into direct connection with Terre Haute, Evansville, St. Louis and
the Indiana coal region. It was a most desirable acquisition, and came to us with the good will of
all the people but without special effort on the part of any one. The coming of the Vandalia is of
particular interest from the circumstances that it was the first distinctive indication that our
manufactures and other local interests had become an inducement for the outside world to seek our
market. We had no longer any need ourselves to seek connections with the trade centers and great
thoroughfares of the country. Henceforth they were to seek us rather than wait for us to seek them.
A like acquisition was the voluntary coming to South Bend, by way of Walkerton and North Liberty of the
Three I railroad, or, as it is often called, the Chicago belt line. This road gives to our manufacture and merchants direct connection with
practically every railroad entering Chicago. The Three I is distinctively a freight railroad, perhaps
the most successful of its kind in the country. It has since passed under control of the Lake Shore
railroad company, but still maintains its characteristic feature as a freight railroad; although its
passenger business is not neglected. The Three I and the Vandalia railroads have been of inestimable
local benefit to the people of St. Joseph county, by bringing the county seat and the other northern
towns into close connection with Lakeville, North Liberty, Walkerton and all the other southern parts
of the county. Literally, we are now closely drawn together by bands of steel; and this more intimate
union of all sections has made every inhabitant prouder of his citizenship of St. Joseph county.
Still another railroad, the northern line of the Wabash system, extends through the south part of the county,
passing through Wyatt, Lakeville and North Liberty, and giving direct connection with Toledo and
Cleveland on the east and with Chicago on the west.
The St. Joseph & Southern, now operated by the Michigan Central gives direct connection with the Michigan
fruit belt and the pleasure resorts at St. Joseph and other points on the southeastern shore of Lake
Michigan.
Another freight railroad is the New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois railroad, connecting with the Wabash near
Lakeville and extending into the factory district of South Bend.
The Studebaker and Oliver factories also own short freight lines connection with all lines entering South Bend.
These private lines are used for the purpose of facilitation shipments from the respective factories
to the great railroads.
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| Street Railways and Interurbans |
Sect. 1.—The South Bend City Railway.—As early as June 23. 1873, the “South Bend Street Railway Company”
was incorporated, the incorporators being John R. Foster, Joseph B. Arnold, Jr.,
Jacob Woolverton, Alexis Coquillard and Henry B. Hine. On September 18, 1880,
the first franchise was granted by the common council. Many subsequent ordinances
in modification of this original ordinance were passed by the city council. At
first, all motive power for the propulsion of cars except that of horses or mules
was prohibited. Afterwards, the prohibition was removed as to all power except
that of steam. A fear seems to have existed that the street railway companies
would run their cars by railroad locomotives. One ordinance expressly required
that only animal power should be employed, except that electricity might be used
on Michigan street. In 1882, under this permission, the use of the overhead or
trolley system was attempted,--for the first time, it is said, in the history of
street railways. The attempt as then made was unsuccessful; the cars could be
moved only for a part of a block, and would then come to a stop by failure of the
electric power. It seems that the electric fluid became dissipated in the earth
as fast as supplied from the power house. In time this defect was remedied, and
the trolley system took the place of animal power and also, in most instances, of
the cable and every other mode of propulsion; but the claim of South Bend to the
distinction of being the place where the use of electric power for street cars was
first attempted has not been questioned.
Sect. 2.—The South Bend and Mishawaka Railway.—Although the South Bend street
railway was almost a failure from the beginning, yet that did not seem to discourage the
projectors and others who were disposed to follow in their footsteps. Instinctively,
there seemed a conviction that street railways must ultimately become successful.
On December 11, 1882, a franchise was granted to the South Bend & Mishawaka street
railway company to construct a street railway between the two towns, then a distance
of about four miles apart. As the greater part of this distance was without was
without the limits of both towns, it was necessary for the company to obtain a
franchise from the county commissions to use the public highway. This was granted
by the board. Soon after the building of this line was some dissatisfaction shown
by the public by reason of the obstruction to travel caused by the manner in which
the company had exercised its franchise. This dissatisfaction finally resulted in an
action in the circuit court, brought by the county commissioners to compel the company
to comply with the terms of its contract. The suit was decided in the circuit court
against the company commissioners; but that body at once appealed to the supreme court
and secured a reversal of the decision, finally compelling the company to take up a
large part of the track and re-lay it in compliance with the terms of its franchise.
Notwithstanding these and other reverses, the Mishawaka line seems to have worked at a
profit; and when the South Bend city railway and the South Bend & Mishawaka street
railway become the property of a single company, it was the Mishawaka line that sustained
the life of the double enterprise until the time came when a new corporation, with
abundant capital, became the owner of all the lines under all the chapters, and at once
and for the first time made the street railway business in St. Joseph county a complete
successful enterprise.
Sec. 3.—The Indiana Railway.—In 1899 the Indiana railway company was organized
with Arthur Kennedy as president and J. McM. Smith as vice-president and general manager.
This company at once became the owner of the South Bend street railway, the South Bend &
Mishawaka line, the Elkhart street railway and the Goshen railway line. The construction
of the South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart & Goshen interurban railway thereafter followed,
and very soon proved to be one of the most excellent interurban lines in the state. Power
houses were erected at South Bend and Osceola, in St. Joseph county, and at Dunlaps, in
Elkhart county. Springbrook park, on the St. Joseph river between South Bend and Mishawaka,
which had acquired some reputation as a pleasure resort in connection with the old South
Bend & Mishawaka line, was now greatly improved and speedily became one of the most frequented
places of amusement in northern Indiana. For the first time the people of South Bend, Mishawaka
and the surrounding country learned what it was to have a first class street railway and
interurban system.
But the Indiana railway company was evidently ambitious of still greater things.
Franchises were procured to extend the lines to Laporte and Michigan City, and the lines
at Michigan City and Laporte were purchased. The company also lent its aid to the
formation of another interurban company which should build by the way of Niles to the
city of St. Joseph on Lake Michigan. The new company, known as the South Bend & Southern
railway company, received a franchise from the city of South Bend on July 28, 1902; and
in an incredible short time the interurban from South Bend by way of Niles and Berrien
Springs to St. Joseph was in full operation.
Sec. 4.—The Chicago, South Bend & Northern Indiana Railway.—In the midst of its
great enterprises the Northern Indiana became aware that it had undertaken too much, even
for its great enterprise and generous treasury. It is to the credit of the stockholders
and managers of the company that they discovered their limitations in time. In 1906, a
sale of all the Indiana railway property was made to a powerful street railway syndicate,
represented locally by those worthy and successful business men, James Murdock and his
sons Charles Murdock and Samuel T. Murdock, of Lafayette, Indiana. These gentlemen were
already large traction owners in all the street railway and interurban going out in every
direction from Indianapolis. They had the experience, ability and wealth needed to make
South Bend a second traction center, little if at all inferior to that at Indianapolis.
The new company, known as the Chicago, South Bend & Northern Indiana railway company,
already shows a purpose to accomplish this end. Preparations are under way to reach
Winona and Logansport on the south and thus connect with the Indianapolis system. Still
more definitely is the purpose shown to exercise the franchise for completing the lines
to Laporte and Michigan City, and from these points ultimately to Chicago. For western
St. Joseph county, New Carlisle and all the surrounding territory this interurban extension
will be a great blessing, giving the people ready access to South Bend as well as to other
east and west centers of trade and population, and thus bringing the eastern and western
parts of our county into closer union.
Sec. 5.—The Southern Michigan Railway.—The South Bend & Southern Michigan
interurban, connecting with St. Mary’s Bertrand, Niles, Berrien Springs, St. Joseph and
Lake Michigan, and known as the Southern Michigan railway company, has already become a
popular and profitable line. The Michigan fruit bent, the fine scenery along the lower
St. Joseph and the many beautiful pleasure resorts on Lake Michigan, are thus brought to
our door. A casual view into the future brings us in sight of Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and
all southwestern Michigan.
Sec. 6—The Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Line.—Many other interurban lines
are in contemplation by enterprising business men who see the bright future that is
certainly awaiting the development of South Bend, Mishawaka and all the St. Joseph
valley. One of these lines, at first called the Chicago & Indiana Air Line, but since
named the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend railway, received a franchise from the
city of South Bend, and also from the board of county commissioners of St. Joseph
county, in 1903, and has already built many miles of its line between South Bend
and Chicago. This line, when completed, is to be one of the great interurbans of
the country, connecting Buffalo, by way of Cleveland, Toledo and South Bend,
with Chicago.
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| Telegraphs and Telephones |
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Sec. 1—The Western Union.—The first movement for the erection of a
telegraph line through northern Indiana were made in 1847. There was an effort at that
time to construct a line of telegraph from Buffalo to Milwaukee. The feasibility and
advantage of the telegraph were not then generally appreciated and moneyed men were
slow to invest in the enterprise. The appeal was therefore rather made to the
enterprise of the people generally than to the cupidity of investors. South Bend was
asked to furnish two housand dollars towards the building of the line, and to the
credit of the enterprising citizens of that day be it said that the money was at once
subscribed. But subscriptions were not so readily made along the line. Chicago, strange
to say, refused to give any aid to the enterprise, and the promoters were forced to
abandon the project for the time.
After a while, however, the people began to realize that the telegraph was to prove
a success, and the necessary means to build the line were forthcoming. Early in the year
1848 the line was completed, and the people of St. Joseph county were among the first
to be in instantaneous communication with the whole country.
Sec. 2.—The Postal.—The telegraph was not a great convenience for people who
made use of it, but was a source of wealth for its owners. Many new companies were
therefore formed from time to time, and sought to partake of the profits that resulted
from that business. In 1880, the American Union Telegraph company was granted a franchise;
and in 1881 the same favor was extended to the Mutual Union Telegraph company. On
December 11, 1882, the Postal Telegraph company was authorized to erect its poles and
wires in the city of South Bend. The Postal and the Western Union have both become great
and successful through lines of communication to all parts of the world.
Sec. 3.—The Central Union.—After the telegraph came the telephone; men were enabled
instantaneously not only to write afar off, but also to talk afar off. In March, 1880,
the South Bend Telephone exchange was authorized to erect poles and wires; and almost
immediately thereafter the lines were extended to Mishawaka and other points, until every
town and hundreds of farm houses were in communication with every other place in the
county and in surrounding counties.
In 1889 the Central Union telephone company was authorized to do business; and in
1893 the American Telegraph and Telephone, or Long Distance, company extended its poles
through the county, on the line from New York to Chicago. Other telephone companies came
into the county from time to time, and, for different reasons, failed to maintain their
organizations.
Sec. 4.—The Home.--In December, 1901, however, the Home telephone company received
a franchise and began at once to grow into a strong and well conducted establishment,
with telephonic connections throughout the state and adjacent territory. The Central
Union and the Home telephone companies, with their long distance connections, give to
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Water Power
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Water Power on the St. Joseph. The first dam across the river was built by the St. Joseph Iron Company
at the Mishawaka rapids, where has since grown up the beautiful city of that name.
By an act approved January 22, 1835, Alanson M. Hurd, John J. Deming and John H. Orr
and their associates were “constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name and
style of the President, Directors and Company of the St. Joseph Iron Works”; and,
amongst other powers, were given the right “to erect a dam across the river St. Joseph
at the head of the Mishawaka rapids, in the township of Penn and County of St. Joseph.”
Provision was made in the act for a lock and “the passage of steamboats and other water
craft used on said river”; also for rafts to come down the river, and for the free passage
of fish up and down. The act was slightly amended by the act of February 1, 1836; and the
name of the corporation was at the same time changed to the St. Joseph Iron Company. The
construction of this dm, while an obstruction to river commerce, was nevertheless by
reason of its use of the water power of the St. Joseph, the foundation of the prosperous
city which has grown up on both sides of the river at that point.
It was in the same year, 1835, that Joseph Fellows, Garrett V. Denniston and others, all from the state of New York, purchased
from Alexis Coquillard the water power and rights at South Bend. Early the next year, by
an act approved February 6, 1836, they likewise procured a charter to build a dam across
the river “at the head of the rapids, at or near the town of South Bend.” The conditions
as to river traffic, the passage of fish and other matters were similar to those for the
dam at Mishawaka. This act also was amended in some matters by an act approved January 16, 1837.
The Denniston & Fellows Company does not seem to have been so well managed; and, in any event, was not so successful, as the
St. Joseph Iron Company. They made some progress in the work of constructing the dam and
in digging a mill race; but, in 1837, by reason of a panic of that year, or for other
causes, they were compelled to cease operations altogether. Later, Mr. Coquillard
recovered the property through the courts.
By an act approved December 28, 1842, Abraham R. Harper, William H. Patterson and Lathrop M. Taylor, were incorporated as the
South Bend Manufacturing Company, and authorized to complete the dam at South Bend. This
company became the owner of one-half the water power of the river at that point. Work on
the dam was again taken up in 1843, and the construction completed the next year, with
mill races on each side of the river. The one-half of the water power attached to the
east side of the river passed at first to Samuel L. Cottrell, and from him, in 1867, to
the South Bend Hydraulic Company. We have already referred to an interesting suit tried
in our circuit court, in the summer of 1889, for the division of the water power among
the owners on each side of the river, and which two eminent judges of the state supreme
court took part.
The ownership on the east side has since remained unchanged; except that the Hydraulic Company has made deeds of conveyance of
certain amounts of water to the several mill owners along the race. In 1903 the ownership
of the stock, property and rights of the South Bend Manufacturing Company on the west race,
except certain shares retained by the city of South Bend, passed by purchased to the Oliver
Chilled Plow Company. This resulted in a great transformation. An electric power plant was
constructed on the west race, capable of using for the production of electricity the full
one-half of the water power of the St. Joseph river. The plant is one of the best in the
country, and supplies electricity for light, heat and power to the opera house, hotel,
factories and other Oliver properties.
Previous to this time a company of eastern capitalist had been formed to construct a damn and electric power plant at a point
above the city of Mishawaka, known as Hen Island. This great plant is used in connection
with another at Buchanan, in Michigan, and with a stream power plant on the east side of
the river, at South Bend, for the generation of electricity in vast quantities, which is
used for lighting the cities and towns on the river and furnishing them heat and power.
In the beginning, the water power generated by the dams at Mishawaka and South Bend was used to run the saw mills, flouring mills
and early manufacturing establishments in those towns. As soon, however, as any line of
manufacturing greatly increased its output, the deficiency and uncertainty of water power,
particularly after long summer droughts, became manifested. In addition, the space on the
river became confined for large concerns. Accordingly, the heavier businesses, from time
to time, was removed to more roomy quarters, often at a long distance from the river. The
result is that the great Studebaker, Oliver, Birdsell, South Bend Chilled Plow and Singer
Works, at South Bend, and the mammoth Dodge factory and others at Mishawaka, together with
many of lesser proportions in both cities, whether originally located along the mill race
or not, are now run with steady and unlimited steam or electricity, instead of water power.
Generation of Electric Power. Yet, even now, there is, in another sense, a return to the river. At several places on the St. Joseph,
as already stated, the great power of he river has invited the building of dams for the
production of electricity, to be used not only for light and heat, but also for motive
power; and it would seem that the water power of he St. Joseph, through the generation
of this mysterious fluid, with its tremendous force, is destined to make this valley
forever a center of manufacturing activity, from the mouth of the river far up beyond
the confines of St. Joseph county. Through this electrical energy there is, then, a
return to the water power which first attracted the attention of millers and manufacturers.
More permanent that the famed natural gas of central Indiana, this electric force,
generated by the broad and rapid St. Joseph, will light and heat our houses and offices,
our stores and factories; will propel our street and interurban cars, and run our endless
varieties of machinery. The river first gave our manufactures and other industries; and
the same river, in this half spiritual form, will retain for us those factories and
industries, and will add a thousand fold to their growth, usefulness and beauty.
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Navigation of the St. Joseph River
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Steamboats Although congress could not be induced to act, the people continued to consider the navigation of the river [St. Joseph] as all
important to the development of the country. In [a] copy [January 25, 1832] of the Pioneer
[The North-Western Pioneer and St. Joseph’s Intelligencer, South Bends first newspaper] in
which are contained reports of meetings held at different points to urge favorable action by
congress, we find the following editorial paragraphs:
“It seems that our anticipation in regard to steamboating on the St. Joseph are to be realized sooner than we expected.
We have received information from a source which can be relied on that there is now a
steamboat building at Erie, Pennsylvania, for this river. It will be completed by the
time navigation opens. It is needless to say that we are highly pleased with the
enterprise. Alive to everything that will have a tendency to advance the prosperity of
this country, we shall hail the appearance of this boat as a new era in its improvement”
And also the following:
“By an advertisement in the Detroit Journal, we perceive that there is a company formed for the purpose of building a steamboat, of
the first class, expressly for the commerce on Lake Michigan. We hope that the stockholders
may reap a rich harvest for their enterprise. From the rapid increase of business on this
lake there can be no doubt that there will be employment for at least one boat, in addition
to the schooners already in the trade. If the increase at any other point bears any proportion
to that of the St. Joseph, we would think that still more employment could be given. From
experiments lately by merchants of St. Louis, we are constrained to believe that in future
merchandise intended for Illinois and Missouri will be shipped via the great inland seas to
Chicago, and thence wagoned to the falls of the Illinois river, it being navigable for small
steamboats from that point to the Mississippi.
“There is another fact that will have a powerful influence and give a new impulse to the commerce on the lakes; it is that all the merchandise
for consumption in what is called the Wabash country, in this state, must and will be
shipped by way of the lakes and the St. Joseph river, and then wagoned on the Michigan
road, and distance of only sixty-six miles, to the Wabash river. We have ventured the
assertion that it can be done fifty per cent lower that by the present uncertain mode,
and still believe that we are correct.”
In an editorial in the Pioneer for April 25, 1832, this enthusiastic paragraph appears:
“Steamboat coming! We understand by a gentleman from Detroit, that it is supposed the steamboat built at Erie, Pennsylvania, for the St. Joseph
river will be here about the first of June. Information from another source says, that
Mr. Bysel, of White Pigeon, has made arrangements to bring an engine around as soon as
possible for a boat to be built somewhere on the river. We shall then have two boats,
success to them! Hope they will have plenty of freight and passengers. How we should
like to hear a high steamer blow its long black nose, and to see it impelled with an
almost incredible velocity against the strong current of the majestic St. Joseph! It
would remind us to the din, the bustle and the business so common to the principal
towns on the Ohio, by more particularly to the Tyre of the West. (Cincinnati)”
Again on May 9, the editor cries out in gladness:
“It is no longer doubtful concerning the steamboat for this river. It is reduced to a certainty. We have received a letter from John F. Wright,
Esqr., of Buffalo, stating that he has a boat now nearly complete, built expressly for
this trade, and which will be here about the first of June.”
And on July 4, 1832, we have these cheerful items:
“Arrived, July 1,--Keel boat Fair Play, Capt. Cratee; from Newburyport, cargo for H. Chapin, in this place. Departure, July 2.—Keel boat Fair
Play, Capt. Cratee, for Newburyport.”
But on August the first, this agueish note was sounded:
“The steamboat Newburyport, built expressly for the St. Joseph river, ascended within ten miles of Niles, when meeting a detachment of troops,
it took them on board and proceeded to Chicago.—She may be expected here n a few days.”
Read between the lines, this announcement was evidently a premonition of disappointment; and it was justified by the event. The Newburyport did
not return “in a few days.” The difficulties of navigation were evidently too great
for the successful running of a steamer of even moderate size.
The anticipation of the people of “The St. Joseph country,” both in the state of Indiana and in the territory of Michigan, were exceedingly
bright,—but the sequel is soon told. Congress at first took some little halfhearted
interest in the navigation of the noble river, and then quietly dropped the matter.
Nature, the bridges, the mill dams, and finally the railroads, did the rest.
There was for a time, however, and of necessity, some navigation of the river. Produce must be shipped in and taken out, either by the river or
on wagons; and keel boats and steamers of light draft continued to go up the stream
as high as Three Rivers. Even persons of the present generation remember steamboats
coming up as for as South Bend, before the building of the dams at Niles and Buchanan.
Pleasure boats even now run from the lake as far as Berrien Springs; and in recent years
the late John C. Knoblock had one between South Bend and Mishawaka; while even now the
redoubtable George Wellington Streeter runs his boat within the same limits. But commerce,
it must be confessed, has departed from the ST. Joseph forever.
In 1830, two men named Masters and Tipsorf made several trips from the lake as far as South Bend and Mishawaka. In the spring of 1831, Peter
Johnson built the first regular keel boat for general freighting on the St, Joseph.
Madore Cratee was her captain; and we have in the “Pioneer” (then called the “Beacon”)
for July 4, 1832, the announcement of the arrival and departure of Capt. Cratee in his
keel-boat. In 1833, the little steamer Matilda Barney and Davy Crockett made trips as
far up as Mishawaka. And from that time on until the coming of the railroads, river
vessels of various kinds piled up and down the St. Joseph.
Something of the character of this river commerce may be learned from a local correspondent, writing in 1847. He says:
“We have here a river coursing through two states, and passing through and in he vicinity of an agricultural body of land without a superior in
the west. For one hundred and seventy-five miles, by the river distance, namely from
Union City to St. Joseph, steamboats can navigate its waters, and have done so,—a
length of steamboat navigation greater even than that of the Hudson. Four steamboats
now ply upon it, and no one, we believe, has counted the numerous keel-boats and arks
which annually find busy employment in its commerce. In the spring and fall one can
hardly look upon this beautiful stream without seeing a boat of some character, deeply
laden, sailing towards its mouth. The manufactories of iron, wool, oil, leather and
other articles, which line its shores and the banks of its tributaries, and whose number
is every year increasing with fast accelerating rapidity, together with the eighty run
of stone for the grinding of flour, already at work or being put in operation the present
season, throw upon its waters an amount of exports which would surprise those who have
not closely scanned the statistics of this fertile valley.”
Finally, however, the railroads came, and the St. Joseph, at least above Berrien Springs, ceased to be used or considered as a navigable stream.
Below Berrien Springs, pleasure steamers of good size pass up and down by the beautiful
summer resorts found along the lower part of the river. Higher up, too, pleasure boats
occasionally ply between the many dams along the stream. But, as said by Judge Pettit,
in closing a special term of court in this county a few years ago, “While no doubt, the
St. Joseph was once a navigable stream; yet, as a mater of fact, it is no longer so.”
(Howard, History of St. Joseph County, 1907)
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Ferries and Bridges
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Ferries over the St. Joseph. In the beginning, shallow places in the river, or fords, were selected
for the purpose of crossing from one side to the other. The first settlers were often
thus required to ford the stream with their wagons, oxen, cows and other stock. Soon
after the starting of towns, however, it became necessary to cross the river at the
towns whether the water were deep or shallow. Before the building of bridges such
crossings were made by ferry boats plying from one bank to the other. These vessels
were generally flat boats, and simple in construction; on which teams, animals and
all kinds of goods, as well as persons, were taken over the river at fixed charges.
To protect the public as well as the ferryman, the county board granted special
licenses, without which no one was allowed to establish a regular ferry or make
charges for carrying goods or passengers from shore to shore.
The first ferry license on the St. Joseph river, as we have seen [below], was granted September 6, 1831, to
Nehemiah B. Griffith; who was authorized, on certain terms and conditions, to
establish a ferry over the river, on what is now La Salle avenue. This ferry was of
great advantage to the people having occasion to pass from one side of the river to
the other (There was a steamboat landing at the same place). Misunderstandings,
however, arose and complaints were made to the county commissioners as to the manner
in which the ferry was conducted. This resulted in some litigation, and the matter was
in an unsettled condition for a long time.
On January 7, 1835, Alexis Coquillard was granted a license to establish a ferry on what is now Colfax avenue. That the
business increased may be known from an order made by the board on March 3, 1835,
requiring Mr. Coquillard to add another boat to his ferry.
It is said that there was a ferry established across the river at Mishawaka in 1834, but there does not seem to be any record
of a license for such a ferry. There is no doubt, however, that a means of frequent
crossing of the river at that point was a necessity, although a regular licensed
ferry may not have been established. The people of that town, at a very early day,
had their minds upon a bridge over the river as being far preferable to a ferry.
On September 1, 1834, Elisha Egbert took out a license for a ferry, crossing the river at the town of Portage, north of South Bend.
Mr. Egbert was much interested in this town, whose success for a time seemed promising
but which has long ceased to exist.
The First Ferry and Steamboat Landing. “Order by the board aforesaid, that a ferry be established at the east end of
Water street [now La Salle avenue], in the town of South Bend, aver the St. Joseph
river, and that there be a tax assessed thereon to the amount of two dollars; and
that N. B. Griffith be licensed to keep the aforesaid ferry, and that the said
Griffith be required to keep a good and sufficient flat, or boat, to convey
conveniently over said river two horses and a wagon at one time.
“Order by the board aforesaid, that the following be the rates of ferriage at the ferry established at the town of South
Bend, to wit: For each person, 6 ¼ cents; for a man and a horse, 12 ½ cents; for
one horse and a wagon or carriage, 25 cents; for two horses and a wagon, 31 ¼ cents;
for each additional horse, with a wagon as above, 6 ¼ cents; for oxen in wagons the
same rate as horses; for loose cattle, three cents a head; for hogs and sheep, two
cents a head.
“Ordered by the board aforesaid, that the said N. B. Griffith be required to keep twelve hands to attend the aforesaid ferry.”
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Bridges and Roads
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Bridges Over the St. Joseph.Not only has Mishawaka the honor of building the first dam across the
St. Joseph river, but also of constructing the first bridge over the same
stream. Both were private enterprises; and both were undoubtedly due in
large measure to the enterprise of the principal founder of the city,
Alanson M. Hurd. This first bridge over the river was built in 1837, and
seems to have been a substantial structure. This may be inferred from the
accident that happened in 1847 to the stream boat Pilot by running against
the bridge. On May 3, 1847, the county auditor reported to the county
commissioners that the owners of the Pilot threatened suit for the loss
of their boat, claiming also that the bridge was an obstruction to navigation.
The only action taken by the board was to order surveys and estimates for
a new bridge, a “lattice” bridge, at Mishawaka.
No action looking towards building a bridge at South Bend seems to have been taken until 1844,
when Abram R. Harper, an enterprising merchant of the town was authorized by the
county board to take up subscriptions and erect a toll bridge over the river at
Washington street. The idea of a toll bridge does not seem to have been received
with favor by the people, and the project languished. In March, 1845, the county
undertook the support of the enterprise, on condition that eight hundred dollars
were secured by subscription. Mr. Harper was appointed superintendent. The bridge
was to be three hundred and fifty feet n length; and to extend from Washington
street, on the west, to Market street, now Colfax avenue, on the east side.
At the June term, 1847, Mr. Harper reported to the county board that he had advanced towards
the building of the Washington-Market street bridge five hundred and thirty-seven
dollars and fifty-four cents, and that there was yet due on subscription one
hundred and ninety-nine dollars and fifty cents. It was evident that the board
must now come to the rescue of this word, and an order was made that the road
tax for Portage township be turned over to the superintendent and the bridge completed.
At the same session of the board it appeared from the survey and estimates for the construction
of the Mishawaka bridge that its total cost would be five thousand dollars, and
hat said sum exceeded the amount of the ordinary road work and tax of the two
road districts in which the Bridge lay. An order was then made that the road tax
of all the districts to be benefited by the bridge should be applied to its
completion. This bridge was to be three hundred feet long and twenty-eight
feet in width.
Thus was the very important work of spanning the river with bridge at the two towns completed.
The days of the ferries were passed. The county, under statutory provisions, has
since taken charge of the building of all bridges over the river, as well as of
all other bridges in the county.
Soon after there was found need of an additional bridge in South Bend; and a covered wooden
bridge was built on Water street, now La Salle avenue, where the first ferry in
the town had been established. This covered wooden bridge is noted in or local
history by reason of the disaster occasioned to it by the only tornado that ever
visited this section of the country. It was about two o’clock on the afternoon
of August 9, 1865, that a black, angry-looking cloud was seen coming up the
Kankakee valley from the southwest. The cloud came on swiftly and threateningly;
dipped towards the earth as it reached the town; stripped the tin roof off the
courthouse, tearing the tin and rolling it up like bales of cloth; dipped still
lower and struck and tore down the east half of the Water street bridge; and then
scattered houses and barns as it rushed on to the southeast. The tornado does not
seem to have been near enough to the earth to have done any damage except as it
passed over the town. The commissioners, in restoring the bridge, wisely determined
to remove the roof from the whole of the bridge, being of opinion that the cumbrous
structure concentrated the full force of the tornado and thus caused the partial
destruction of the bridge.
Later a plain wooden bridge, a frail one it was considered, was built on Jefferson street; and
afterwards another, the Leeper bridge, on North Michigan street. Four miles north
of the Leeper bridge another was built, at Musquito Glen, near the old Sheffield
or Sider’s mill. Still other wooden bridges were erected from time to time, at
different places along the river.
Then came the era of iron bridges. The first of these was a kind of suspension, swinging or
chain bridge, built over the river on Water street, now La Salle avenue, in South
Bend. An unskillful workman one day drove a pin out of the unlucky east end of this
bridge, and let the whole structure into the river. A more substantial bridge, of
the truss pattern, was erected in its place. The truss bridge was n favor for a time.
One was built at Mishawaka, on Bridge street, in place of the old wooden one at that
point; another was built in 1881, on Jefferson street, South Bend, in place of the
feeble wooden structure that had too long done service in that place; Still another
took the place of the wooden Leeper bridge on Michigan street, South Bend.
But the iron in the truss bridges expanded in summer and contracted in winter, and it required
the constant care of experts to keep the bridge in safe condition. With the new
century came the conviction that some more safe and durable form of bridge must
be adopted. The first effort in this direction resulted in the Sample street bridge
in South Bend. The upper truss was abandoned, and a solid sub-structure support,
with iron girders, was substituted; giving a smooth, solid road bed, continuous
with the street on either side. A further step in the same direction was taken
in 1903, in the building of the Colfax avenue bridge, supported on great iron
girders resting upon piers. This, too, gives a street surface continuous with
the street at either side, a most desirable feature in all bridge construction.
It is to be regretted that the Colfax bridge has so heavy a grade from east to
west. It would seem to have been very easy to remedy this defect by beginning
the grade one square further east, making an easy ascent from Bridge street of
Michigan street; but, even as it is, this bridge is one of the finest public
improvements ever made in the county.
Finally public opinion was so distinctly expressed that the county commissioners took the ultimate
step in bridge making, and adopted the Melan, or concrete-arch system, the
arches re-enforced with ribs of steel buried in the concrete. This system
results, practically, in the spanning of our rivers with indestructible stone
arches, over which are built roadways and sidewalks absolutely similar to and
continuous with those of the thoroughfares upon which the bridges are erected.
The first of these bridges was built on Cedar street, Mishawaka, and son successful did the
experiment prove that the county board no longer hesitated. Three concrete arched
bridges were ordered,—one on Jefferson street, South Bend, thrown open to public
travel in 1905; one on Bridge street, Mishawaka, now (in 1907) approaching completion;
and one on La Salle street, South Bend, which will also be completed in November, 1907.
The Cedar street bridge, Mishawaka, and the Jefferson street bridge, South Bend, are
most beautiful as well as substantial structures. It is sometimes said that the Jefferson
street bridge is of unnecessary length; that one-half the east arch, being over solid
ground, might have been omitted and the space filled in with earth. It is claimed that,
besides the shortening of the bridge, and the consequent shortening and strengthening
of the arches, this would have straightened Emerick street and made the connection with
Jefferson street and the bridge more direct and convenient at that point. But the bridge,
as it is, is so noble a structure, broad and continuous as the fine street on which it is
built, that it seem ungracious to draw further attention to faults now apparent t every
one. Hindsight is easy to us all; foresight only to the child of genius. The vision of
the historian is, of course, but hindsight; and he must be pardoned for looking upon
things as they have been done and as he actually finds them.
Roads. The first roads, as we have seen, were Indian trails and traces,
running by the most convenient routes from point to point of importance throughout
the vast surrounding wilderness. Some of these connected such far distant points
and were of such convenience and even necessity for the use of the government as
will as for emigration and for the needs of primitive commerce, that they were
adopted and cared fro as national roads. Of such was the Great Sauk trail, stretching
from Canada and New York to the far northwest. This trail crossed the St. Joseph river
near Bertrand and passed over the northwest part of this county. Over this pathway had
gone the Sacs and Foxes and other Indians in their journeys to the east from Wisconsin
and other western countries; and by this traveled way had come the dreaded Iroquois in
their incursions from the far east. In peace, it was the pathway of the hunter and the
highway of commerce; in war, it was the road along which advanced in threatening array
the painted warriors of the forest and the prairies. As a national road the Great Sauk
trail became known as the Detroit and Chicago road, or simply the Chicago road, as it
is called to this day. This road would perhaps have made Bertrand a great city had not
the railroads passed through Niles and South Bend, and made of the great trail a common
country road, instead of the thoroughfare of commerce which it ad been for ages.
Another wilderness highway, connecting with the Great Sauk trail, extending thence east through
South Bend and Mishawaka and across northern Indiana, to Vistula, Ohio, has now long
been known as the Vistula road. This road and others of its kind, took in all along the
line other trails, traces and pathways, as the Dragoon trace and the Turkey Creek road,
leading off to Fort Wayne and other pints to the south and east. Such a highway as the
Vistula road, leading as it did through many counties, was of state importance, was laid
out by a special act of the legislature, and was therefore known as a state road, Sometimes
the statute so passed, as was the case with the Vistula road, failed to fix any width for
the highway, naming only the line of the road and leaving the width to be fixed by public
travel, to the subsequent inconvenience of the people and the annoyance of boards of
commissioners and often of the courts. The Vistula road as it extends through South Bend
is called Vistula avenue; while through Mishawaka it is known as Second street. Those who
desire to preserve historical associations have frequently urged upon the good people of
Mishawaka the propriety of continuing the name of Vistula through their beautiful city.
Still other highways were confined to the county itself, although generally connecting and forming
one with thoroughfares at the boundaries. Such highways were under the sole jurisdiction
of the county commissioners and known as county roads. A very large part of the time of
every session of the county board during the early period of the history of the county
was taken up with hearing petitions for these county roads, appointing viewers to lay
them out, hearing and approving the reports of the viewers and establishing the roads,
or in listening to remonstrances and appointing reviewers. In time, however, all the
necessary roads have been laid out, and it is not often now that petitions for new roads
are presented to the commissioners. The attention of the county board and of the township
road authorities is now, and has for years, been chiefly given to bridging, draining,
graveling and otherwise improving the highways already laid out. Plank roads were for a
time resorted to on some lines, as on the Michigan road between South Bend and Plymouth;
but these were all wisely abandoned and gravel roads substituted in their place.
It is said that the United States postal authorities in charge of the free delivery mail routes have
recently pronounced the highways of Indiana the best in the Union. This is a high
commendation for the public spirit of the Hoosier state; and it is to the honor of
St. Joseph county that nowhere in Indiana are the public highways and bridges kept
in better condition for public travel than within our own borders.
Although when first laid out and improved the various highways were for a time distinguished as
national, state, county and even township roads; yet now, and for a long time, all
roads are improved and cared for under the county and township road authorities,
and the laws in relation to highways apply uniformally to all public roads, no
matter by what authority they were originally established. We may note as a
peculiarity of our local highway system that the gravel road laws of the state
have never been applied to the improvement of the highways of this county. Good
road gravel is so abundant in almost every section of the county that the township
trustees and road supervisors have had no trouble in graveling the roads by using
the ordinary road labor and the township road fund for that purpose.
In Chapter Fifth, subdivision first, of this history, in connection with the first surveys of
the public lands, we have given some particulars concerning the early history of
the most important public highway of the county, and indeed of the state also, the
Michigan road. This was to Indiana what the Erie canal was to the state of New York,
what the Union Pacific was to the region beyond the Rocky mountains and what the old
Roman roads were to the several provinces into which they were extended. The moat
complete and detailed history of the Michigan road ever written was prepared by Miss
Ethel Montgomery, a graduate of Purdue university and now one of the corps of teachers
in the South Bend high school. Miss Montgomery’s paper was recently read by her before
the Northern Indiana Historical Society, and is to be published by the society as one
of its most valued documents.
The Michigan road may be considered as a national as well as a state road. In Chapter Fifth we
have seen that by the treaty of October 16, 1826, the United States secured from the
Pottawatomies the lands necessary for the construction of the road from Lake Michigan
to the Ohio river, the road to be one hundred feet in with, Both in the treaty, however,
and in the subsequent acts of congress in relation thereto, the Indiana legislature was
given the right to locate the road and to dispose of the lands and apply the proceeds
to its construction. Chief credit for the completion of the road through this county
and on to the terminus at Michigan City is due to the commissioner then in charge,
Judge William Poke, who was one of the most eminent of out public men in the early
history of Indiana. The road runs almost in a direct line from the crossing of the
Wabash at Logansport to the southern bend of the St. Joseph, passing through Plymouth,
Lakeville and South Bend, all then within the limits of St. Joseph county. From South
Bend the course turned to the west, so as to reach Michigan City by the most direct route.
Michigan street and Michigan avenue mark the course of the Michigan road through South Bend.
This section of the road was finished in 1834 and 1835; and its completion gave a wonderful
impetus to the settlement of this county as well as of all northern Indiana. (Howard,
History of St. Joseph County, 1907)
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City Improvements
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Streets and Sidewalks.The first systematic grades of the streets of South Bend were established on
surveys made in 1865, by Rufus Rose, city engineer. The grades so established are usually
referred to as the “Rose Grade.” The street improvements were of the streets to the grade
so established. Afterwards, the streets were graveled, there being an abundance of good
road gravel easy of access just northwest of the city. The next improvement made was to
pave the gutters on each side of the roadway with cobble stones, the stones being from
three to seven inches in diameter. These cobble stones were also used in paving the alley
crossings on the sidewalks; the remainder of the sidewalks being at first paved with boards
or planks, and afterwards with brick. The work to this point may be called primitive street
improvement.
The manner of doing this primitive work is well illustrated by the following ordinance for paving the
sidewalks on the north side of Washington street, along what is now the south front of Oliver hotel:
“Section 1. Be it ordained by the common council of the city of South Bend, That the sidewalks on the
north side of Washington street, between Main street and the first alley west, be graded to
the grade established by the city engineer, and that the same be paved with brick fourteen
feet wide.
“Section 2. Unless said sidewalk is graded and paved by each land owner in front of his property by the
tenth day of November, 1866, the street commissioner will immediately advertise the work to
be done by the best bidder by the twenty-fifth day of November, and the cost thereof will be
assessed upon the property in front of which the grading and paving is done, to be collected
according to law.
“Passed October 15, 1866.
“W. G. George, Mayor
“John Hagerty, City Clerk.”
The first steps towards the paving of the streets were taken in 1865, the year in which the city was
incorporated. On December 5, 1865, an ordinance was passed by the common council for the
paving with cobble stone of a part of Michigan street and a part of Washington street.
Section four of this ordinance reads as follows:
“Sec. 4. That Michigan street, from Market street [La Salle Avenue], to the south side of Washington street,
and Washington street to the west side of Main street, shall be graded as provided in the
first and second sections of this ordinance, and paved with small boulder stone of not
less than three not more than five inches in diameter. The center of the street when paved
to be one inch below the top of the curbstone. The gutter at the bottom, to be one foot
below the center of the street, and the street to have a regular curve from the bottom of
one gutter over to the other. The gutters to be shaped according to the direction of the
street commissioner.”
This cobble stone pavement was but little, if indeed it was any, improvement over the gravel street; but the
people endured it for over twenty years. They endured the cobble stone gutters and alley
crossings for even a longer time.
In 1888, a new departure was taken. The people determined to try cedar block pavement. On April 9, 1888, the
cobble stone laid down on Michigan and Washington streets was ordered replaced with cedar blocks. This pavement won many encomiums for two or three years; but, in the end, it proved even rougher than the cobble stone.
In 1889, a further advance was made. On July 22, 1889, an experiment in brick pavement was
determined upon. Jefferson street, from Michigan to Lafayette, was ordered paved with “two
courses of hard burned brick.” This was the first modern pavement laid on the streets of
South Bend. William M. Whitten, then the efficient city engineer, drew up the specification
with great care. The block from Main to Lafayette was an excellent pavement. The brick for
the experiment was ordinary building brick, made in the Leeper brick yard in South Bend.
This brick pavement was laid down by Martin Hoban, contractor, and remained in good condition
until its removal in 1907.
By an act approved March 8, 1889, the legislature provided for the payment of the cost of street and sewer
improvements in installments of ten per cent a year for ten years. This act, known as the
Barrett law, is one of the excellent series of laws enacted by the reform legislature of
1889 and 1891. The law has proved a boon to the cities and towns of Indiana. It came just
in time for South Bend. The brick pavement on Jefferson street was so decided a success that
the only question left for consideration was the matter of payment for the work. The city
was then up to the constitutional two per cent limit of indebtedness, and the treasury could
not be restored to in order to lighten the burden of the property owner. But by making the
payments in ten annual installments, as was done by the Barrett law, the problem was solved.
Street and sidewalk pavements, as well as sewers, were at once projected in every business
and populous residence section of the city.
In 1898, an asphalt pavement was laid down on Washington street, and two years afterwards one was laid on
Lafayette street, and since that time on several other streets. It was said at the time, and
has since proved to be true, that the asphalt on Washington street was too dry, had too large
a proportion of gravel, and that it would soon “grind out” in spots by the action of the wheels
of vehicles passing over it. The complaint on the part of the people on Lafayette street, on
the contrary, was that the pavement was too soft, that the wheels would sink into it in warm
weather. The Lafayette pavement has grown harder and better with years; but that on Washington
street has “ground out” in numerous places, as predicted.
Street paving has gone on in South Bend since 1889. Until at the end of the year 1906 there were forty-two
miles of pavement. Of this, about thirty-six and a half miles are of brick. The chief part of
the remainder is of asphalt; there being a little creosote block and other experimental pavements.
Originally the sidewalks, like the roadways of the streets, were principally of gravel; but plank and boards
were also used, and in time brick also. Early in the eighties, the common council prohibited
the putting down of any more wooden sidewalks; for the reason that so many accidents had
occurred from rotten and broken planks that there were almost constant suits for damages
against the city. As early as 1867, John R. Foster laid a cement sidewalk on the north side
of West Washington street at the corner of North Taylor street. This cement sidewalk is still
in good condition, notwithstand it age. Soon afterwards cement walks began to come into general
use; although for a while there was trouble with persons who clamed to have patents on the proper
mixing of the cement. This was but a temporary check, and it was not long until the cement sidewalk
was a favorite all over the city. Brick, however, continued to be used for walks until 1907, when
its further use for this purpose was forbidden, for reasons similar to those which had caused the
disuse of plank sidewalks. (Howard, History of St. Joseph County, 1907)
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Sewers. The first sewer in South Bend was constructed in 1861, long before the incorporation
of the city. After several preliminary steps were taken, the board of town trustees, on
December 24, 1860, entered into contract with William Mack to construct a circular brick
sewer on Washington street, four feet in diameter and twelve hundred feet long, extending
from the west line of Lafayette street to the river. It was to be finished by May 1, 1862,
the cost to be twelve hundred and forty-three dollars. But one fault has been found with
this first and most noted of our sewers. The sewer was not laid low enough. It was provided
that, at the commencement of the work, at Lafayette street, the bottom of the sewer, on the
inside, should be eight feet and a half below the street grade, and should fall at the rate
of three inches to each one hundred feet to the east line of Michigan street, after which
the rate of fall should be as required by the board of town trustees. This depth proved quite
insufficient to drain the basements of business houses afterwards constructed along Washington
street; and it was necessary to correct the defect by the construction of other sewers.
Under the city government all the principal streets have been supplied with sewers, and others are being constructed
every year, and paid for by property assessments under the Barrett law. At the close of the
year 1906, there were fifty-four miles of sewers in the city of South Bend.
One of the sewers of the city has a peculiar history. On October 8, 1875, the city provided for the
construction of what has been called Lafayette street sewer. This was built, primarily, for
the accommodation of the South Bend Iron Works, now known as the Oliver Chilled Plow Works,
which had then been recently located in the southwest part of the city, on the Kankakee side
of the “divide.” The sewer was paid for out of the city treasury; but the owners of lots along
Ford, Scott, Railroad, South and Lafayette streets, fronting on the sewer, were allowed to tap
the same by paying into the city treasury sixty-two and one-half cents per front foot. (Howard,
History of St. Joseph County, 1907)
Water Works. In Turner’s South Bend Directory for 1871-2, is the following, entitled, “Water—fire”:
“A company has recently been formed for the purpose of erecting Holly Water Works and furnishing the city with pure
water from the St. Joseph river. Action has, however, been deferred for the year 1871, it
being considered too late in the season to commence operations. Another year will, doubtless,
see this important work completed. A good system of water works would be highly advantageous
to South Bend, although we have at present an abundance of most excellent water for domestic
use, furnished by wells; while thirty public cisterns, entirely self-supporting, are distributed
throughout the city for fire purposes. These cisterns are six feet in diameter, with a minimum
depth of six feet of water. No steam fire engine can make any perceptible diminution in the depth.
These cisterns from an extraordinary means of protection against fires, and, in connection with
a well organized and efficient fire department, serve greatly to reduce the premium on insurance.
We have one first-class steam fire engine, which will soon be duplicated. Few cities have so
good protection against the ravages of fire as South Bend, and few during the past five years,
have suffered so little.”
The foregoing paragraph by Judge Turner shows the condition of the city in regards to the subject of
water works at the close of the year 1871. The people were becoming restless on the question
of adequate fire protection. The actual means then provided for this purpose are disclosed in
the statement quoted; while the proposed action to form a Holly Water Works Company shows that
the situation was not altogether satisfactory. The Holly system had very earnest advocates.
Indeed, the majority of the common council was at first in favor of the Holly system, to such
and extent that a contract was entered into for the erection of Holly Water Works. This system
provided for pumping water directly from the river into the mains and water pipes, as should be
required. Two other systems were talked of, the Reservoir and the Stand Pipe systems. It was
practically agreed by all parties that the reservoir system, that is, the drawing of water by
ipes from a large body of water located on a height above the city, would be most desirable,
provided we had such a high location, and the water upon it; but we had neither. The stand pipe
advocates said that next in excellence to the reservoir came the stand pipe, or water tower, as
Professor Wilcox preferred to call it; that when the stand pipe was pumped full of water the
pressure on the water mains throughout the city would be of that equable and uniform character
which marked the reservoir system. The Holly advocates replied that if it were necessary to pump
water into the stand pipe, why not pump it directly into the mains? The answer to this was that
an equable pressure was preferable, besides the stand pipe would be ready at the instant, while
the Holly engines might not be in order to do their work at the moment of danger. And so the
argument raged for two years.
The leader of the Holly advocates was William H. Beach, one of the proprietors of the first paper mill
established in South Bend. The leader for the stand pipe party was Leighton Pine, the superintendent
of the Singer Sewing Machine factory, then recently located in the city. Mr. Pine was one of the
most able, enterprising and public spirited citizens that ever resided in South Bend. The war
between him and Mr. Beach, for it was a war without quarter given of taken, was carried on in
the newspapers, on street corners, on the stages of the theaters, in meetings of citizens, and
in every other way in which public opinion could be influenced. Great meetings were held in the
court house. In one of these Mr. Pine had a small stand pipe erected upon the rostrum, with a
faucet at the bottom; and when the little stand pipe was filled with water, and the faucet turned
to represent the tapping of a water main for the fire hose, Mr. Pine triumph was complete. The
little jet of water flew up half way the height of the stand pipe; and the people left the court
room shouting for the stand pipe party. As may be imagined, political parties were rent asunder.
The elections were on the lines of Holly and stand pipe. The stand pipe won by a tremendous majority;
and, in 1871, William Miller was elected mayor, and a majority of the common council were with him
in favor of Mr. Pine’s plan. The new city government, backed by the great body of the people, were
not only in favor of the stand pipe, but also in favor of municipal ownership. They were resolved
that the city should build, own and operate its own water works. It was an era of conflagrations,
and the minds of the people were wrought up to a keen anxiety for protection against the dreaded
danger. The Chicago fire, the greatest in history, with its loss of two hundred millions of dollars,
had occurred on October 8 and 9, 1871. The Mishawaka fire, with its loss of two hundred thousand
dollars, as great as that of Chicago, in proportion to wealth and population, took place on
September 5, 1872, in the very heat of the South Bend agitation. And, soon after, on November 9, 1872,
Boston had its eighty million dollar fire.
The city authorities, however, were not hasty in action; and it was not until the summer of 1873 that
the first steps were taken. On July 7, 1873, a carefully prepared ordinance on the subject passed
the common council. The ordinance contained the following provisions:
That “William Miller (mayor), Joseph Worden, Peter Weber, Alexander Staples and S. R. King be and they
are hereby constituted a committee on behalf of the city of South Bend, and as such are hereby
authorized and empowered to enter into a contract on behalf of the city with suitable party or
parties for the erection and constriction for said city of a suitable and sufficient system of
water works, of what is called the stand pipe system, and as proposed and planned by John Birkinbine;
for the purpose of furnishing said city with a sufficient supply of water for fire purposes and
fire protection.”
This was followed up, on July 9, 1873, by an ordinance for the issue of water works bonds for on hundred
thousand dollars. On October 6, 1874, the issue so authorized was supplemented with an additional
amount for sixty-five thousands dollars. The great work was under way. The specifications, as
reported by John Birkinbine, the very competent engineer, provided for a wrought iron pipe five
feet in diameter and two hundred feet high. For the first twenty-one feet, the plates were to be
of seen-sixteenth inch iron; for the next twenty-seven feet, of three-eighth inch; for the next
thirty-six feet, five-sixteenth inch; for the next forty-eight feet, one-forth inch; and for the
last sixty-eight feet, three-sixteenth inch. The weight of the plates was forty-two thousands pounds.
The castings for the support of the pipe, themselves resting upon concrete foundations, weighted
twelve thousands one hundred and eighty pounds. The wrought iron bolts used to put the plates
together weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. On July 29, 1873, the committee determined to erect
the stand pipe at the crossing of “Pearl, Jefferson and Carroll streets.” The actual location was
ultimately fixed on the north side of Pearl, not far from the intersection of the first alley west
of Carroll street, nearly opposite the site of the fort erected in the Black Hawk war, in 1832,
where the pipe now stands. The excavation was thirty feet square and fourteen feet below the grade
of the street, and was filled with stone imbedded in cement and afterwards grouted, so that the
whole formed one solid mass of stone. The specifications further provided for an enclosure of brick,
two and a quarter feet from the pipe and rising to a height of one hundred and ninety-five feet from
the street. Between the pipe and the protecting wall was a winding stairway of two hundred and ninety
steps to the top. A pointed roof over all was to reach a distance of two hundred and twenty-one feet.
Separate contracts were let for the several parts of the work, all under supervision of John Birkinbine.
The greatest anxiety was as to the lifting of the stand pipe into position after the plates should
be riveted and water tight. This most responsible task was confided to Alexander Staples, then one
of the common council and a ember of the committee in charge of the water works; and well did he
perform the task assigned him. It was determined to raise the great pipe as one piece, rather than
in sections, which had been at one time contemplated. In September he began to get his huge gin poles
and other necessary apparatus in readiness. On November 11, 1873, the council appointed as special
peace officer, George V. Glover, Noah Huggins, William Overacker, Ananias Forst and O. C. Perry, who
were directed to obey strictly the orders of john Birkinbine and Alexander Staples, during the momentous
and exceedingly dangerous work of raising the stand pipe. This precaution was timely, both for the
protection of the people who should be gathered at the time and also for that of the great pipe itself.
The undertaking of lifting this mass of iron fro the ground to a perpendicular was the greatest
engineering feat ever attempted in this part of the country. A like attempt at Toledo resulted in the
falling and breaking of the stand pipe when it had been lifted half way up.
On Friday, November the fourteenth, the raising of the massive tube was begun and on that day the stand
pipe was elevated about twenty-two feet, on two capstans and with a force of twelve men. On Saturday,
the fifteenth, the work of lifting the great pipe was continued, in the presence of five thousand people.
Three capstans were used for raising the pipe, one for guiding it and one for pulling it forward. At
four o’clock in the afternoon it had reached an elevation of seventy degrees, at which it hung in the
air all that night. On Sunday morning the perilous task was resumed; but the pipe again hung in the air
over Sunday night. On Monday, November 17, 1873, at eleven o’clock, it was nearly plumb, and at half past
two o’clock on that day, the great iron tube stood in position, two hundred feet perpendicular from its
rocky base.
An impromptu meeting was at once organized. Mayor Miller mounted a capstan and congratulated the people
of the city. “Aleck” Staple, the hero of the occasion, was then called for, and fairly lifted and pushed
upon a capstan. His speech was characteristic: “Gentlemen, I can raise a stand pipe like this a great
deal easier than I can make a speech.” That was all, but it was cheered as loudly as if Edward Everett
had spoken.
Alexander Staples was a Union soldier, and his modesty after his great engineering feat was like that of
the true soldier on the field of battle who has won the day for his country. The Star Spangled Banner
did not seem too noble a model for the humble verse that sought to glorify his deed; and this was the
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