Howard Park

- Chapin Park - East Wayne Street - Edgewater Place -
- Howard Park - Lincolnway East - Muessel-Drewery Brewery -
- North Saint Joseph Street - River Bend - Riverside Drive -
- Saint Casimir Parish - Singer Brothers Manufacturing Company -
- South Michigan Street - Taylor's Field - West North Shore Drive -
- West Washington -

The Howard Park National Register District was listed as part of the East Race Multiple Resource Area in 1997. The district was originally part of the first addition of the town of Lowell, an unincorporated industrial area on the east side of the Saint Joseph River. Christopher Emerick platted a portion of the area in 1845, which was incorporated into South Bend in 1868. The first addition was partially platted by Samuel L. Cottrell in 1854. The area of the district between Saint Peter and Eddy Streets remained unplatted until 1875.

During the 1880s, houses built in the district were predominantly two story, cross-shaped in plan, clapboard sided, vernacular houses. Typical of these were the Sylvester Brewer house as 212 South Saint Louis Street (1879), the Darwin Bowen House at 208 East Wayne Street (1882), and 828 Jefferson Boulevard, the brick home built by Alexis Coquillard, the nephew of the city founder, also Alexis Coquillard. This home is now lost.

There are two key historic sites located in this district. The first is Howard Park, whose development took place mainly between 1878 and 1894. Before its development as a City Park, the area between Jefferson Street, Cotrell Avenue, the River and the Grand Trunk Railroad had been swampy low ground. It was flooded in the winter for ice skating. In the fall of 1878, the City Council passed a resolution written by Council Member Howard to review this area for improvement. In February of 1879 after purchase of a few lots, the city engineer marked the boundaries of the new park.

From 1880 to 1894, this morass was filled in by the city to cover over the swampy area, fresh top soil was added over the fill, which was then planted with grass, flowers and trees, and paths were laid out through the park. Plans for a sea wall along the river were also made and complete in 1895. In 1894, the City Park was officially titled Howard Park after the writer of the 1878 resolution.

In 1902, the city sought to enlarge the park and received gifts of land or purchased lots. This allowed for access to the park from Saint Louis Street. By 1906, the park had been well developed under the care and guidance of Herman Beyer, Park Superindenent, and his staff. Philnthropic stewards of the city also provided funds for public drinking fountains: John M. Studebaker presented an electrified fountain and Calvert Defrees, a bronze fountain.

In 1912, George Kessler, prominent landscape architect who bagan his career in Kansas, included the Howard Park neighborhood in his plan for the City of South Bend. Kessler's scheme for South Bend called for linking the city's park system with tree-lined boulevards. Howard Park, as it was already well established with the Jefferson Bridge and the neo-classical river walk balustrade, was an anchor in Kessler's proposal. Saint Louis Boulevard would serve as the tree-lined street connecting Howard Park with West North Shore Drive and Leeper Park via the Michigan Street Bridge.

In the 1930s, South Bend took advantage of President Roosevelt's New Deal programs, which were created to bring relief to the public and raise the nation's spirits through works projects. Completed projects from this era of government social programs are extant in Howard Park including the Howard Park Adminitration Building (the stone and slate roof structure), and the field stone river retaining wall, stairways, and viewing stands. The Newman Center, once an armory, was also a New Deal public works project that has since had seen several additions added to the original structure. A few modern amenities have been introduced into the park such as the Howard park ice skating rink, running trails, and modern sculpture.

The second is the Jefferson Boulevard Bridge. Built in 1905, it was one of the first bridges across the Saint Joseph River to employ the Melan Arch System. Engineered by Josef Melan, an Austrian engineer, the system relies on steel arches to support the exterior facing of concrete. Rather than build a purely functional bridge, engineers and civic leaders frequently sought designs that employed Neo-Classical and Beaux Arts details, which would enhance the aesthetics of a city. This period of civic beautification is known as the City Beautiful Movement. The Jefferson Bridge is a civic project completed during this era. It has a molded entablature and coping, enlarged dentils, bas-relief scrolls, now replicated in metal, and four broad arch spans supported by piers designed to look like chalices.

Opening in time for its 100th Birthday, the bridge was reconstructed from March 2003 to November 2004 by Superior Construction under the oversight of the Saint Joseph County Board of Commissioners and the Saint Joseph County Engineering Department. Its graceful lines and classical details have reemerged in steel and concrete.