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NOVEMBER 1895 – 27 FEBRUARY 1896 · MOVED, NOT RAZED
The turn: When St. Joseph County built its new courthouse, it did not demolish the old one. It turned it around. The 1853–55 courthouse stood in the new building's way; the county hired Harvey Sheeler of Chicago, and beginning 19 November 1895 his workmen cut into the foundation, inserted logs, iron and steel beams, lifted the building onto rollers, and through the cold and snowy winter turned it 180 degrees and moved it to face Lafayette Street. On 27 February 1896, at 3:45 in the afternoon, its bell tower rang in its new position. The building was listed on the National Register on 4 September 1970 — the county's earliest listing — and it stands today at 112 South Lafayette Boulevard, holding the offices of the Traffic and Misdemeanor Court: a courthouse that was rotated and rolled rather than razed, still at work a hundred and thirty years later.
Sources:
- The Architecture section of this history — the Multiple Resource Area nomination and the Indiana University South Bend courthouse history: Harvey Sheeler's contract, the 19 November 1895 start, the rollers and the 180-degree turn through the winter, the bell tower's ringing at 3:45 p.m. on 27 February 1896, the National Register listing of 4 September 1970, and the building's present use.