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 NPS Form 10 -900 OMB No. 10240018 South Bend City Cemetery St. Joseph, Indiana Name of Property County and State The scarcity of burial sites prompted the South Bend Board of Public Works and Safety in 1961 to use the southwest portion of filled -in Race to realize 200 additional lots for veterans of the United States armed forces. The fact that only the southwest portion was proposed for burial supports the claim on the slot machines. The lots in the section, about a block long and 40 feet wide, were free of charge for the deceased veteran, only a charge for opening and closing the grave. Looking southwest from the bridge are four rows of Korean and Vietnam veterans graves. Social History (B) A visit to City Cemetery provides an enlightening glimpse into the social history of South Bend. Towering monuments designate the final resting places of wealthy titans of industry, declaring their standing and status even in death. Studebakers, Birdsells and many others rest under markers thought equal in size to their contribution to the community. Smaller markers bearing foreign names, carved in their native German and Polish, trace the important immigrant populations that helped to build South Bend. As South Bend's main cemetery, its importance as a community asset is evident in the citizens' far - reaching efforts for upkeep and beautification. In an attempt to survey and document the land, an 1897 resolution by the Common Council directed the sexton to procure a Burial Record Book in which the records should be properly indexed. This was begun under sexton Randy Nowacki, who estimated that the task would take 6 years to finish. Today, volumes of cemetery records are stored in an unlocked safe in the sexton's cottage, recorded by hand in alphabetical order. These earlier records date from 1832 -1874. In 1941, another resolution of the Common Council was approved, this time concerning perpetual care of certain lots in the City Cemetery at public expense for proper respect and gratitude for their services. These burial lots include some of the most important citizens of South Bend: Schuyler Colfax, John Auten, Lathrop M. Taylor, James and Mary McKinley, and three other Revolutionary War veterans. In 1914, after money was raised by the Norman Eddy Post of the Grand Army, a monument to the soldiers of the Civil War commissioned and erected in the northeastern section of veterans' graves by the Linden gate, a majority of which are those of civil war soldiers. Today, the cemetery hosts annual Memorial Day tributes sponsored by various veterans' organizations and the monument stands as an important marker to the memory of American soldiers. Politics and Government South Bend City Cemetery is significant under Criteria B in the area of Politics /Government because it is the final resting place of Schuyler Colfax, former Vice President of the United States, who is a political figure significant to our past. Schuyler Colfax was born in New York City on March 23, 1823. His journey into political life and notoriety in Indiana and beyond begins with his move to New Carlisle, Indiana in 1836. The political career of Schuyler Colfax almost seemed pre- destined, as he comes from a long line of distinguished military leaders and politicians. Colfax worked first as deputy auditor of St. Joseph County, Indiana which grew his Section 8 page 16