Mishawaka Historical Museum

06/17/2026

Yesterday, one of our museum volunteers, Joshua Lange, brought in a wonderful piece of Mishawaka history, a letter sent from the city in 1842. Josh discovered this letter on eBay and purchased it to give to the Mishawaka Historical Museum. This letter is now officially the second oldest artifact in our collection, and it was written in Mishawaka within the first 10 years of the town's existence. Finding written letters from this era is rare and gives us a glimpse into what life looked like for Mishawakans of the past.

06/04/2026

This photo shows Broederenkring Club members taken on Sunday, June 3, 1928. Pictured are 142 people. Most are adults but 34 children also appear in the photo. Adolf Fobe appears second from the right. Adolf was the first president of the Broederenkring Club and the founder of Fobe’s Bakery. Eight men in the middle of the group are wearing uniforms and/or holding musical instruments. They are members of the club’s band. In the background is the south side of Raymond Vander Heyden’s warehouse, which faces Wells Street and is north of a vacant lot at Wells and Eighth Streets. This building served as the Broederenkring Club’s temporary meeting space until its permanent home was completed at the corner of Ninth and West in 1930. The most noticeable element of the photo is the 48-star American flag that is on a pole held by a man in the middle of the back row. Most of the men and women in the image were old enough to have been born in Belgium and were typically not yet American citizens. Despite the club’s Flemish name and members’ strong ties to their homeland, no Belgian flag is displayed. Broederenkring Club members were showing allegiance to the United States, their new home and the birthplace of their American children. Wording at the bottom says, “Broederenkring Picnic June 3, 1928 Vlaamsche Maatschappy,” which translates as “Flemish Society.” Around 300 members of the Broederenkring Club attended the picnic at August De Martelaere’s farm, five miles south of Mishawaka. Autos had driven in a parade from the Broederenkring hall to Union Street and arrived at the farm at 11 a.m. A Tribune article explains, “Games and contests were enjoyed during the afternoon and following a big picnic dinner the club band furnished music for several hours of dancing.”

05/31/2026

Since early April, the Mishawaka Historical Museum has distributed over 300 copies of our free publication, Mishawaka History Summer Bucket List. This 28-page booklet describes 75 historical experiences across Mishawaka that you can do this summer. The booklet has been so popular that we had to do a second printing! Stop by the museum, InRugCo Studio & Gift Shop, or the downtown Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library to get your copy.

05/29/2026

The Mishawaka Historical Museum is again a Blue Star Museum, part of a program that provides free admission to currently serving U.S. military personnel and their families during the summer. The 2026 program began on Armed Forces Day, May 16, 2026, and will end on Labor Day, September 7, 2026. Learn more and find the list of participating museums at arts.gov/BlueStarMuseums. The free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States military—Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force, members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps—and up to five family members. Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), DD Form 1173-1 ID card, or the Next Generation Uniformed Services (Real) ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.

05/25/2026

Thank you to WSBT and Asher Bookspan for this story about Elizabeth Richardson's footlocker.

Elizabeth Richardson's journey ended in France but began in Mishawaka.In World War Two, Richardson served her country by volunteering with the American Red Cros

05/24/2026

On Memorial Day, we especially remember the over 200 Mishawakans who gave their lives in wartime military service. They include Elizabeth Ann Richardson, the American Red Cross volunteer who was killed in a plane crash in France on July 25, 1945. The Mishawaka Historical Museum now has on display an extraordinary artifact from Liz Richardson that recently made its homecoming after an amazing odyssey. In March, Salvador Valle, who lives in San Pablo, California, found a footlocker on the embankment above San Pablo Creek. On the footlocker was the wording “E. Richardson American Red Cross” and the address “Rt. #1 Dragoon Trail Mishawaka, Indiana.” Liz was likely issued the footlocker by the A.R.C. during her time in Washington, D.C., from May-July 1944. It accompanied her to New York, made the transatlantic crossing on board Queen Elizabeth, and was with Liz in the places where she was stationed in England: Leicester, Biddulph, Barrow-in-Furness, and Warrington. Elizabeth mentioned the footlocker in a November 9 letter to her parents (“We each own a footlocker, a barracks bag and a suit case”). Liz then had the footlocker shipped to LeHavre, and it was with her in the chateau where she and her American Red Cross colleagues were billeted. After Elizabeth was killed, friends packed her personal effects in the footlocker—including the wartime diary she kept, letters she received, and the flag that draped the casket at her funeral—and sent it to her parents on Dragoon Trail. The footlocker was in the possession of the Richardson family until 2013, and then its whereabouts were unknown until Salvador’s discovery. After a cross-country flight in April, Elizabeth Richardson’s footlocker returned to Mishawaka. We display it to honor this Mishawaka woman who gave her life while serving her country and its men in uniform.

05/22/2026

Exactly 101 years after its opening night, the Tivoli Theater was remembered today with two new signs on North Main Street. Our thanks to the City of Mishawaka and the Mishawaka Historic Preservation Commission for making this happen.

05/21/2026

We encourage you to attend the dedication of the Tivoli Theater memorial historical marker Thursday at 4 p.m. May 21 is the 101st anniversary of opening night at the Tivoli Theater.

05/18/2026

The Mishawaka Historical Museum is proud to be a sponsor for Round the Bend Now and Then's podcast episode about Paul Jernegan, Center Point Tower, and plans for rejuvenating downtown Mishawaka. In the episode, Matt Emery interviews Pete De Kever about this landmark that never was. We encourage you to listen to this episode and Matt's other great programs on local historical topics.

🚨 NEW EPISODE ALERT🚨

MISHAWAKA'S LOST SKYSCRAPER

For a brief moment in the late 1960s/early 1970's, downtown Mishawaka almost looked completely different.

Plans were unveiled for Center Point Tower - a futuristic 33 story skyscraper featuring apartments, offices, observation decks, and a revolving restaurant overlooking the St. Joseph River. But the vision went far beyond just a tower. The proposal also included department stores, a new bridge crossing the river, and even an outdoor pedestrian shopping mall along Lincolnway - all aimed at making Mishawaka the St. Joseph Valley’s premier shopping destination.

In this episode, I sit down with local historian, the president & curator of the Mishawaka Historical Museum, and author of Lost Mishawaka, Pete DeKever, to explore one of the most fascinating “what if” stories in our area’s history.

Huge thanks to Pete for sharing his incredible knowledge and passion for preserving Mishawaka history!

There’s SO much history right under our noses.

Episode available wherever you get your podcast or at the episode links in the comments below ⬇️

Pic Credit 📸: Mishawaka Historical Museum

05/16/2026

May 16 marks the 90th anniversary of the greatest day in the long history of the Mishawaka High boys track and field team. From 1931-1941, the Maroons won 11 consecutive sectional titles, part of a golden age of M.H.S. track in which the cindermen were sectional champs 15 of 19 seasons between 1931-1949. Mishawaka finished fourth at the 1934 state meet and fifth at the 1935 state finals. In the 1936 sectional, the host Maroons won their sixth consecutive sectional title, destroying runner-up LaPorte, 59-27. The Tribune’s Dave Gallup described Mishawaka’s dominance by referring to “A Maroon wave, swept relentlessly along by the flying feet of Mishawaka High school athletes…” Coach Dutch Thurston’s winners came in the 100 (Mestach), mile (Boulanger), broad jump (Kristl), 880 (Weaver), 220 (Bushell), 220 low hurdles (Kristl), and mile relay (Scudder, Weaver, Woolf, and Boulanger). At the state meet on May 16, Horace Mann claimed the state title by scoring 28, but the Cavemen, for the first time, were a legitimate challenger. Mishawaka tallied 22 points and finished third. Leading the Maroons, Franklin Kristl had a performance for the ages: a double victory in the broad jump and 220 low hurdles. Mishawaka’s effort was also aided by Weaver’s first in the 880, Boulanger’s third in the mile, and a fourth in the mile relay. The Cavemen’s third at the 1936 state meet would prove to be the highwater mark of its dynasty and remains the best finish by any Mishawaka track and field team in 110 years of competition. Read more about Mishawaka High's track and field dynasty in this week's Mishawaka Enterprise, available at InRugCo, Hometown Pharmacy, and the downtown CVS.