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STAFF REPORT <br />CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A <br />CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS <br />Application Number: 2000-0118 <br />Property Location: 612,610,524,520&512 N. St. Joseph <br />Property Owner: Near Northwest Neighborhood (612), Quinton & Laura <br />Smith (610), Memorial Hospital (524, 520 & 512). <br />Landmark or District Designation: NSJ-LHD <br />Rating: 612-C/10; 610-C/10; 524-C/9; 520 -NC; 512-C/9 <br />STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE <br />The North St. Joseph Street area remained undeveloped throughout most of the <br />Nineteenth Century. By 1885 Christian Soens operated a brick mill and drying yards <br />located in the lowland, which began at what was to become St. Joseph Street. <br />St. Joseph was first platted as the east boundary of the Rockstroh Brothers' Second <br />Addition in 1899. The east side of the street was then established as building lots in <br />Hammond & Whticomb's Addition platted in 1903. Seth Hammond and Leslie <br />Whitcomb were two of South bend's most important Real Estate Developers. Hammond <br />was the son of area pioneers who made his living from farming as well as real estate <br />speculation and development. Whitcomb was the developer of hundreds of homes in the <br />area and platted numerous subdivisions on his own and with others including Fred Keller. <br />City Directories for 1904 reveal that houses sprang up quickly on Navarre Street and the <br />east side of St. Joseph Street. By 1912 the neighborhood between St. Joseph Street and <br />Riverside Drive was nearly half built -out with 39 houses having been constructed. In <br />1917 the length of St. Joseph Street was essentially complete. <br />5 <br />