Filmed on Tuesday, May 30 2023, I drive around downtown South Bend, Indiana and the University of Notre Dame to see what's going on.
One of the earliest known groups to occupy what would later become northern Indiana was the Miami tribe. Later, the Potawatomi moved into the region, utilizing the rich food and natural resources found along the river.
The Potawatomi occupied this region of Indiana until most of them were forcibly removed in the 1840s.
The South Bend area was popular because its portage was the shortest overland route from the St. Joseph River to the Kankakee River. This route was used for centuries, first by the Native Americans, then by French explorers, missionaries and traders.
The French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the first white European to set foot in what is now South Bend, used this portage between the St. Joseph River and the Kankakee River in December 1679.
The first permanent white settlers of South Bend were fur traders who established trading posts in the area. In 1820, Pierre Frieschutz Navarre arrived, representing the American Fur Company of John Jacob Astor. He settled near what is now downtown South Bend.
The settlement was first called St. Joseph's, then renamed to Southold, and finally changed to South Bend.
In 1831, South Bend was laid out as the county seat with 128 residents. That same year, Horatio Chapin moved to the settlement, opened the first general store with imported goods, and helped established the first church and Sunday school. The town was formally established in 1835, with Chapin as the first president of the board of town trustees.
In 1842, Father Edward Sorin founded the University of Notre Dame just north of the town.
In 1852, Henry Studebaker set up Studebaker wagon shop, later becoming the world's largest wagon builder and the only one to later succeed as an automobile manufacturer.
The Singer Sewing Company and the Oliver Chilled Plow Company were among other companies that made manufacturing the driving force in the South Bend economy until the mid-20th century.
During this time period there was a great immigration of Europeans, such as Polish, Hungarian, Irish, German, Italian, and Swedish people to South Bend because of available employment in area factories.
In 1949, legendary percussionist Lionel Hampton was informed that his concert at South Bend's Palais du Royale would be a blacks-only event; he threatened to call for a boycott of the venue, and the affair proceeded as an integrated evening, which newspapers said led to all attendees breaking out in "paroxysms of ecstasy."
By 1950, more than half of all employment was in the manufacturing sector. Due to economic difficulties, Studebaker closed its automotive manufacturing plants in South Bend in December 1963.
A general decline in manufacturing soon followed as industry was restructured nationwide. By 2000, manufacturing was only 16 percent of the local economy. Due to the severe loss of jobs, the city's population decreased by nearly 30,000 during that period.
In 2015, the city's population increased by 286, the largest one-year growth in over twenty years. The former Studebaker plant has been developed as the Ignition Park center to attract new businesses, especially in the tech industry. South Bend has also seen new development, particularly in the tech field, a decline in unemployment, and a renewal of the downtown area.
Since the 1960s, education, health care, and small business have come to the forefront of South Bend's economy, though the city has never regained the level of prosperity it enjoyed before that time. Nearby University of Notre Dame is a large contributor to the local economy. The university is the second largest employer in the city, employing 6,086 people.
As of the census of 2020, there were 103,453 people residing in the city, up from 101,168 in 2010.
The racial makeup of the city was 60.5% White, 26.6% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 6.9% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.0% of the population.
The median household income was $46,002 and the per capita income was $26,934. 20.9% of the population was living below the poverty line. #driving #travel #drivingtour