The Museum on Main Street: Opened March 12, 2023

121 South Main Street, 2023 to the present (verified November 2026)

The opening slipped a year past the announcement, and the slip is part of the record. The museum's own news item of the renovation season announced "OPENING IN 2022!" The grand opening, when it came, was held on March 12, 2023 — the date carried in the Mishawaka High School alumni newsletter of that month, which describes "large exhibits of churches, businesses, historic landmarks, famous Mishawakans, schools, military heritage and a working train, owned by the founder of the museum." The plan and the event are printed as they stand; the museum does not reconcile them, and neither does this section.

As it stands in November 2026, read from the museum's own site: the Mishawaka Historical Museum occupies 121 South Main Street, 1,500 square feet of exhibits in seven areas — Businesses and Industries; Historic Landmarks; Military Heritage; Famous Mishawakans; Schools; Churches and Faith; Railroads — with a working model train set and dozens of model train cars on display, and a rotating exhibit area currently telling the history of Mishawaka's Tivoli Theater. It is open Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children six to eighteen, free for children five and under. It is operated by its board of directors — Pete De Kever, president and curator — is not affiliated with any agency of St. Joseph County or Mishawaka government, and relies strictly on donations, memorials, and fundraising. It is a destination in the public library's Discovery Pass program, through which library members visit free. No count of its collection is published in the record reached; 1,500 square feet of exhibits is the museum's own measure of itself, and it is printed as such.

Principal sources

1. "What's New Mishawaka?", Mishawaka High School 50-year class reunion newsletter (Constant Contact), March 2023 — the grand opening of 12 March 2023 and the exhibit description.
2. Mishawaka Historical Museum, homepage (mishawakamuseum.org), read November 2026 — the address, the 1,500 square feet and seven areas, the trains, the Tivoli rotating exhibit, hours and admission, the board and the Discovery Pass.