Historical Landmark - The Rail Road bridge located across the St. Joseph River, adjacent to the Angela Street Bridge

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R.R. BRIDGE HISTORICAL CONTEXT This railway line first appeared in the 1911 atlas. It is believed to have been originally constructed in the mid 1890's by the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Railroad, otherwise known as the Chicago Indiana Southern. This rail company, most commonly referred to as the three I's arrived in South Bend in the mid 1800's. It constructed a line that gave manufacturers and merchants a direct connection with practically every railroad entering Chicago. The line ran only freight cars and was perhaps the most successful railroad of its kind in the country. It is believed that the line running north through the west portion of South Bend curving to run parallel with Angela Street and ending at Notre Dame University was erected in the late 1880's or early 1890's. It was reported in the South Bend Tribune in 1895 that the Portage Avenue Bridge over the I. I. & I. R.R. was widened for ease of travel. The three I's were responsible for the construction of the first railway bridge over the St. Joseph River to run adjacent to the Angela Street Bridge. By 1917 the line and bridge had been sold to the Michigan Central Railroad. They owned the line until it was taken over by the New York Central. It is unknown whether Michigan Central or New York Central Railroad was responsible for demolishing the original bridge and replacing it with the a new bridge in 1927. The bridge saw rail lines change hands several more times before being purchased by the Pennsylvania Lines LLC in 1999. This company leases the rights to the line to the Norfolk and Southern Corporation. This bridge was a portion of a freight train system that hauled coal to Notre Dame University. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION The structure is located across the St. Joseph River, just north of the Angela Street Bridge in South Bend, Indiana. This is a deck plate girder bridge with four concrete supports, iron girder and plate deck. RECOMMENDATION Based on the Historic Preservation Commission's Local Landmark Criteria's adopted by the Common Council, the structure spanning the St. Joseph River immediately north of the Angela Street Bridge has been recommended to the Common Council for designation as a Local Landmark by the Historic Preservation Commission. The building, sites and objects meet the following three criteria: 1) Its character, interest, or value as part of the development, heritage, or culture of the city of South Bend, St. Joseph County, the state of Indiana, or the United States of America; 4