Bonnie Doon: the ice-cream company whose first and last houses stand here

1938 — present, at one stand · Fourth Street to 2704 Lincolnway West

The founding and the name: Bonnie Doon Ice Cream was established in 1938 by the Muldoon brothers — three brothers, in the encyclopedia's account; Indiana Landmarks names two of them, Herman and Andrew Muldoon, and calls them South Bend ice cream makers. The name itself is a documented artifact: the brothers ran a contest in the South Bend Tribune to name the venture, and the Tribune of October 10, 1937, carried the result under the headline "Name Selected for New Plant." The family later named a daughter for the business — Bonnie Muldoon Witt, in the founding family's account. Where the company belongs is a line this section prints plainly rather than argues: its makers are described as South Bend's, but its first house stood in Mishawaka, at 109 East Fourth Street, and its last house stands in Mishawaka. It is told here on that ground, and the drive-in form it took is the corridor's: indoor dining, speaker orders, car hops, the Bonnie Burger, and a mint chocolate chip the encyclopedia calls very popular.

The trade record at mid-century: The company's own trade press fixes its scale a decade in. Ice Cream Field, the industry journal, in October 1951 names Herman J. Muldoon as owner of the Bonnie Doon Ice Cream Company, "with five stores in Mishawaka and South Bend, Indiana," and documents its showpiece promotion: an "Ice Cream-for-Breakfast" sale run with the Post Cereals division of General Foods on September 8 and 9, 1951, at which more than 2,000 gallons were sold, at forty-five cents the quart, eighty the half-gallon, a dollar fifty the gallon. A local artist-historian's account of the Fourth Street house adds the arrangement the trade record implies: the first building was also the factory, making the ice cream for the other stores.

The peak, and a count that conflicts: How large the chain grew is one of the record's open seams. Indiana Landmarks, in its drive-in survey, says the Bonnie Doon "was a hit, expanding to as many as nine locations in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties," and calls it, in its phrase, the city's first drive-in restaurant — the account does not make clear whether Mishawaka or South Bend is the city meant, and the ambiguity is printed rather than resolved: the first store stood in Mishawaka. A 2025 national food account counts ten locations around northern Indiana. The named locations in the record are five: South Bend's Lincolnway West at Bendix Drive, the Roseland store on State Road 933, the 1600 block of South Michigan Street, and Mishawaka's two — Fourth Street and 2704 Lincolnway West. The counts are printed as their carriers give them; the roster above is what verifies name by name.

The end of the making, and the survivor: The Muldoon family sold the company in 1990 — Sam Dugan is the buyer the later accounts name, and he is said to have changed barely a thing. The making ended first: the ice cream was by then produced at a plant in Elkhart, and the plant closed at the end of 2013, the Tribune reporting that October that the brand could disappear if no buyer was found. The drive-ins closed with the factory, all but one. The survivor is Mishawaka's Lincolnway West stand, at 2704, owned by Adam Carroll, open in the warm months, serving Valpo Velvet ice cream made in Valparaiso since its own make ended — the Tribune's 2026 ice-cream survey still lists it, "since 1938," with thirty flavors. The Fourth Street building, the first house and first factory, stands empty in the artist-historian's account. A chain of nine or ten houses, an Elkhart factory, and a regional name come down to one seasonal stand on the Lincoln Highway in the city where the first one opened.

Sources:

1. Wikipedia, "Bonnie Doon Ice Cream," from the Tribune record — established 1938 by three Muldoon brothers; the 1937 Tribune naming contest; the Bonnie Burger and mint chocolate chip; the sale of 1990; the Elkhart plant and its closing at the end of 2013; the Valpo Velvet succession; the five named locations.
2. South Bend Tribune (10 October 1937) — "Name Selected for New Plant," the naming contest's result as the encyclopedia cites it.
3. South Bend Tribune, founding-family account (7 December 1986) — "Bonnie Doon's Fare Is Cream of the Crop, Says Founding Family"; Bonnie Muldoon Witt as cited by the encyclopedia.
4. Ice Cream Field (October 1951), read first-hand — Herman J. Muldoon, owner; five stores in Mishawaka and South Bend; the Ice Cream-for-Breakfast sale of 8–9 September 1951 with Post Cereals; more than 2,000 gallons; the prices.
5. Indiana Landmarks, "Indiana's Drive-in Destinations" (2019) — Herman and Andrew Muldoon; "the city's first drive-in restaurant"; as many as nine locations in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties; the factory gone; the one survivor at 2704 Lincolnway West.
6. Larry Johnston, nostalgic artist and broker, Bonnie Doon paintings and accounts (2014) — the first business on Fourth Street, Mishawaka; the building also the factory for the other stores; the building standing empty.
7. South Bend Tribune (16 October 2013; 29 March 2015; 8 August 2011 as cited) — the brand's possible disappearance without a buyer; the drive-ins' mom-and-pop course; the area-history account.
8. Chowhound (21 November 2025) — Sam Dugan's 1990 purchase and light hand; ten locations; Adam Carroll's ownership.
9. South Bend Tribune (17 July 2026) — the Lincolnway West stand listed current: since 1938, thirty flavors, Adam Carroll owner.