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4 <br />The Navarre Cabin <br />The original location of <br />Navarre’s cabin is recognized <br />today as 123 West North <br />Shore Drive, on the north <br />bank of the St. Joseph River. <br />Navarre sited his cabin for <br />easy access to the St. Joseph <br />and Kankakee rivers and the <br />portage between, a primary <br />route of travel for trappers <br />and traders before established <br />roads. His associated <br />homestead extended from <br />the river’s edge north to what <br />today is Marquette Avenue. Navarre was recorded as living in the cabin by Father Sorin during <br />an 1850 parish census. Following his death in 1864, Navarre’s land became the property of <br />Samuel Leeper. The builders of Navarre Place (today’s magnificent homes along North Shore <br />Drive) purchased the Navarre property from Leeper’s heirs for residential development. <br />In recognition of its historical <br />significance, the developers donated <br />the Navarre Cabin to the Northern <br />Indiana Historical Society (now <br />d.b.a. The History Museum) in <br />May of 1895. The Society’s original <br />unrealized intent was to relocate the <br />building to Howard Park; in 1901, the <br />South Bend Board of Public Works <br />agreed to allow the cabin to be <br />moved to a location on the west side <br />of the river. The cabin was moved <br />in 1904 by Alexander Staples and <br />his firm, White & Staples, to a site <br />noted as Bartlett/Marion Streets. <br />The Navarre Cabin in its original location, north of the river, ca. 1895. <br />The Navarre Cabin in second location, ca. 1910.