02-10-14 Council Agenda & Packet

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NIPS Form 10 -900 OMB No. 1024 -0016 _South Bend City Cemetery St. Joseph, Indiana Name of Property County and State where it served as the entrance to the cemetery until 1899. Buried in this section is Peter Roof, Revolutionary War veteran, (1753- October 25, 1831), and is the oldest recorded grave in City Cemetery. Another notable grave is that of Lathrop Taylor, cofounder of South Bend, who, with business partner Alexis Coquillard, donated the land for South Bend City Cemetery. Continuing north, the paved path travels through the first and second plat additions and intersects another paved path at Linden Avenue, where a service gate constructed of chain link allows entrance. Just northeast of the Linden Avenue gate is a military section along LaPorte Avenue, laid out linear and formal as protocol demands. In this section are two Civil War monuments erected by Norman Eddy Post and the Woman's Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic. Aside from introduced diagonals, roads and pathways in these additions are just as linear and monuments as orderly as the original plat. The northwest section of City Cemetery is entered by passing over a stone bridge spanning a grassy path lined with towering trees that dissect through the cemetery at a diagonal from northeast to southwest. Before being filled with earth, the now grassy path was once part of the Kankakee Mill Race that was to connect the St. Joseph and the Kankakee River. In 1961, after the Mill Race became a failed venture, veteran's plots were designated in the filled canal. This third plat addition signifies the introduction of the lawn movement and begins to feature curved roads and pathways with monuments following suit. The landscaping is more open as there are not nearly as many or large trees as in the original cemetery. Grave markers tend to be simple and smaller than those found in the earlier sections. Miscellaneous plantings in this section include hostas, rosebushes, bushes, and various tall grasses, not otherwise as abundant in the earlier sections. The northwest corner of the section seems to be sparsely occupied, identifying a "Potter's Field, an unmarked pauper section. An iron pedestrian gate is fitted into the southwestern corner of this triangular addition. Heading once again across the Mill Race towards the south end of the cemetery, is the last addition. It is here that the complex organization of curves and circular forms are indicative of designer involvement. Furthest south is a less dense area. After the 1897 resolution by the Common Council to vacate South Avenue to be converted to burial lots, single grave sites were added along the south fence. The sparse area seems to indicate lack of graves, but in fact, this section was designated for the Paupers of the city who could not afford headstones. As the first cemetery of South Bend, City Cemetery received it straightforward name early in its history, as is seen on the Bird's Eye View of South Bend in 1866, one of the first documentations of the site. While today the cemetery retains its original name, various attempts have been made for more creative changes. On a 1893 report of Committees, a movement was made requesting the name to be changed on record to OakRidge Cemetery. Seven years later, on a 1900 map, the cemetery is marked as Oakwood Cemetery. Inspiration for these names likely stem from Oak Street, which currently dead -ends at the northeast cemetery limits. Despite these attempts, the names did not last, and all consequent documents cite the original name, City Cemetery. Section 7 page 7