The Story of South Bend: Questions Settled

1879 — 1984 · THE SMALLER DEBT

Notre Dame's fire day — settled: The Story of South Bend section prints Notre Dame's great fire at month size, April 1879. The day is Wednesday, 23 April 1879, on the university's own records: its archives' exhibit of the fire dates it so, with the Minims the first to see the smoke at about ten in the morning; David Hope's centenary history of the university prints "the morning of April 23, 1879"; and the university's own catalogue for 1879–80 records that "on the 23d of April, 1879, the University of Notre Dame was destroyed by fire." Five buildings were lost — the Main Building, the Infirmary, Music Hall, St. Francis' Home and the Minims' Play Hall — at a loss above $200,000 against some $45,000 of insurance, with no life lost; the replacement's cornerstone was blessed on 4 May and its core stood ready for the September term.

The South Bend Watch Company — settled: The parked first account of this city printed the watch works' end at year size from a single pamphlet. It corroborates beyond that source: the plant closed on Wednesday, 27 November 1929 — Thanksgiving eve — its people told it would reopen on 1 January 1930. It never reopened; liquidation ran to 1933, with some 35,000 watches in production at the close and about 300 employees in the works' last year, against nearly 600 in its peak years. The closing day stands on the horological trade history of the company and on the South Bend News-Times's 2026 retelling of the company's history; one specialist history of the company dates the final layoff two days later, 29 November, and that variant prints beside the settled day rather than under it.

The patrolman's name — settled by the record of this history: The Story of South Bend section's account of the 1934 Merchants National robbery leaves the officer killed on 30 June 1934 unnamed. The bank-robberies record of this history names him from the FBI's file: Patrolman Howard C. Wagner.

Robertson's — the year settled at the strength the free record gives, the name re-logged: The department store's closing year prints as a conflict in the Story of South Bend section: 1986 against an Indiana Memory record's implication of 1982. Three independent carriers now stand on 1986 — the Michiana Jewish Historical Society's history of the store, the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center's landmark tour, and the store's entry in the Clio — against the lone 1982 implication, and 1986 is the year the record supports; the South Bend Tribune's file is the named source that would settle it finally. The buying brothers' surname does not settle: the Jewish Historical Society and the family's and employees' recollections give Welber — Sig and Will Welber, who bought the store in 1932, Will's son Philip joining in 1936 — while the University of Notre Dame's Building South Bend gives Weber. Both forms stand, as the Story of South Bend section first printed them; the settling pulls are named — Polk's South Bend directories for 1933–36 and the Tribune's obituaries of the brothers and of Philip — and the item stays open until one is read.

The East Race's opening month — re-logged: The East Race Waterway's 1984 opening stands at year size in every carrier, including the convention and visitors bureau's own guide; no month is documented in the freely reachable record. The settling sources are named: the South Bend Tribune's 1984 opening coverage and the Park Department's records at The History Museum. (The same guide carries a present-tense fact for the city's today record: the East Race is closed for the 2026 season for updates.)

The 1923 Klan letter — re-logged: The Story of South Bend section's note assigned the Klan's 1923 letter to the Ku Klux Klan, in the city engineer's papers, to the Black history record "to settle from primary sources."

Sources:

1. University of Notre Dame Archives, "The Great Fire of 1879" exhibit; Annual Catalogue of the University of Notre Dame, 1879–80; Rev. Arthur J. Hope, C.S.C., Notre Dame — One Hundred Years (1943), as exhibited by the university archives — the fire's date.
2. South Bend Watch Company: the company's history in the horological trade record (the Pocket Watch Repair company's compiled history), the company's history as carried in reference works, and South Bend News-Times (February 2026); Lindell V. Riddle's specialist history for the 29 November variant.
3. Michiana Jewish Historical Society, history of Robertson's department store; Indiana University South Bend, Civil Rights Heritage Center landmark tour; The Clio, Robertson's entry; Building South Bend (University of Notre Dame) — the 1986 closing and the Welber/Weber conflict.
4. Visit South Bend Mishawaka, East Race Waterway guide (updated April 2026) — the year-only opening and the 2026 closure.
5. The bank-robberies record of this history — Patrolman Wagner, from the FBI's file on the 30 June 1934 robbery.