October 1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

• NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION STAFF REPORT PROPERTY -- East Bank Multiple Property Listing South Bend, Indiana OWNER -- Various - 165 resources listed STANDARDS The nomination proposes placement of three districts and 13 individual properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Most districts and properties are nominated on the basis of Criteria A and C (historical events and architecture) except for the I&M Transformer and Garage and the Singer/South Bend Lathe Historic District which are based only on Criterion A. The LaSalle Street Bridge which is based only on Criterion C, and The Maurice Egan House which is based on Criteria A, B (association with a person of historical importance), and C. National Register Bulletin 15 - How to Apply the National Rep:ist.er Criteria for Evaluation provides' in Criterion A that "Properties can be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places if they are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of history." The Bulletin further provides in Criterion B that "Properties can be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places if they are associated with the • lives of persons significant in our past." The Bulletin further provides in Criterion C that "Properties can be .eligible for the National Register of Historic Places if they embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction." RECOMMENDATION The Staff of the HPC recommends in favor of the nomination of the East Bank Multiple Property Listing roughly located on the east bank of the St. Joseph River east of Eddy Street and South of Napoleon Street in the city of South Bend to the National Register of Historic Places. The properties included variously meet the criteria A, B, and C as discussed above. As described in the Statement of Historic Context section of the nomination, the development of the East Bank area as we know it today commenced around 1835 with the construction of the dam in the St. Joseph River feeding races at each bank and the platting of the City of Lowell. Interrupted. by the "panic of 1837" the dam and races were not completed until 1845 after which industrial uses were quickly established. Significantly separated from South Bend by the river with only ferry service connecting, Lowell developed as a whole community with all commercial, residential., and industrial necessities. Lowell and South Bend were connected by a covered bridge at Water Street (now LaSalle) by the 1850's. Following the Civil War, Lowell was annexed to South • Bend as part of that city's re -incorporation.