April 15, 2024 DuBail Avenue: Probably the only local road named after a French barber Pierre DuBail was born in Paris, France, in 1834, removed by 70 years and 4,000 miles from the South Bend street that would eventually…
April 8, 2024 Have a seat, Mr. Huey, this road is named for you Huey Street runs north and south along South Bend’s near westside, connecting Lathrop and Washington streets, and carving neat lines that run alongside my…
April 1, 2024 Thomas Dunham: South Bend’s justice of the peace who died of a curse? Dunham Street is a broken road on South Bend’s west side, running east and west in bits and pieces through old Polish neighborhoods, split…
March 25, 2024 ‘They built the Grotto with the rocks from his farm’ My friend Greta told me the story as if it were an urban legend, and as I watched her speak through the wisps of…
March 21, 2024 All you wanted to know about Aaron Helman’s books Meet me at BookCon – This Saturday! Hello friends! It’s been an exciting several weeks, but there is still lots of new and exciting stuff…
March 19, 2024 Rudolph Donmoyer: Mayor of South Bend’s Kalamity Korners and so much more Four years after the first shots had been fired in the conflict that would become the American Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee…
March 11, 2024 Alexander Napier Thomas: South Bend’s forgotten mayor Alexander Napier Thomas died on March 26, 1904, at the age of 64. Complications from a lifelong struggle with diabetes had felled him in…
March 4, 2024 Lot Day: Making the most of his day in South Bend It’s in the 19th chapter of Genesis that Lot and his family fled to escape the destruction of Sodom. The angels had warned them…
February 29, 2024 Norman Eddy: The most brilliant South Bender of all time? Colonel Norman Eddy is more than a Civil War hero. He’s more than the namesake of a beer at Brew Werks, and he’s more…
February 21, 2024 We lost our wetlands once. Let’s not do it again. The following includes an excerpt from Aaron Helman’s book, An Incomplete History of St. Joseph County, Indiana. On February 16, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed…
February 19, 2024 Lathrop Miner Taylor and the three streets that carry his name I’ve always been fascinated with Lathrop Street, ever since my earliest school buses hurtled down that road, and especially since I learned the history…
February 15, 2024 The road is named after a guy named Brick? One of the great disappointments of my life came when I learned that Brick Road in South Bend was never actually paved with bricks….
February 8, 2024 Joseph Bartlett and the Washington Street Stop on the Underground Railroad When Joseph Bartlett came to South Bend in 1837, he already knew his name would be remembered beyond his own life. When the city’s…
January 31, 2024 Michiana’s Uncle Sam: The namesake of Ireland Road Let’s get this out of the way. The name of Ireland Road has nothing to do with the Emerald Isle. It has nothing to…
January 24, 2024 The curious Wilber name of Wilber Street fame The May 10, 1927 issue of the South Bend Tribune recounted the curious story of the naming of Wilber Street as one of the…
January 19, 2024 Samuel Sample: South Bend’s first political hero My great-grandfather was very famously not a fan of the quality of the pavements on Sample Street in the 1970s. You can imagine his…
January 15, 2024 Almost everything I never learned about South Bend Every school bus I ever rode to every school I ever attended barreled down Portage Road between Cleveland Road and Lathrop Street. Every morning…
January 11, 2024 A heroic whisper on Auten Road Abram Auten came from Ohio to farm a field and find a fortune at a plot of land on South Bend’s southside, sandwiched between…
January 2, 2024 There’s a history of madness on Wayne Street You might know Major General Anthony Wayne as the namesake of Fort Wayne. If you’re a connoisseur of craft beer, you might recognize him…
November 2, 2023 Revisiting the most scandalous trade in Chicago Cubs’ history As the Texas Rangers poured onto the field to celebrate their first championship, a stinging blast of frigid air tore through the Midwest the…