The History Museum & Oliver Mansion

Its exhibits paint a vivid picture of the St. Joseph River Valley Region — from prehistory, to settlement, to the rise of industry with stops along the way. It’s a must-see for any visitor, especially those looking to include a history tour on their itinerary.

History doesn’t get much more vibrant than the mansion.

Once owned by the industrialist J.D. Oliver, it was built in 1895-96. A New York architect designed the 38-room home. Tour it and you’ll find what others have seen — it’s in perfect condition. All the furnishings are original, which offers a rare window into how the Oliver family lived decades later.

Some facts about the mansion:

• It was built with Indiana field stone, which was transported to the site and cut.
• It was one of the first homes in South Bend with electricity.
• More than two acres of Italianate gardens surround the mansion.
• The mansion and gardens are listed on the National Record of Historic places and registered as an American Treasure.
• The mansion was donated in tact, meaning with most of the items inside.

The Historic Oliver Gardens are dutifully maintained to resemble the original gardens cared for and enjoyed by the Oliver family. Constantly blooming and changing throughout the spring and summer seasons, the gardens are a sight to behold and a must visit during your stop.

Temporary Exhibits

One stop at The History Museum might not be enough. Several exhibits change, giving visitors a new look every time they make the trip. Here is the current lineup of temporary exhibits.

ROCKNE: Life & Legacy

Notre Dame football has captured America’s attention for over 100 years. Of all the great legends who coached or played on Notre Dame’s football field, none is as iconic as Knute Rockne. It was 100 years ago on January 1, 1925, that Rockne’s Fighting Irish beat Stanford 27-10 in the Rose Bowl, clinching the first of Notre Dame’s 11 National Championships. The victorious finale to their 1924 season helped Rockne secure Notre Dame’s place on the national map and on its celebrated road to glory in football history. Fans watch every pass, every play, and every touchdown with a singular intensity. Tragically, Rockne died in an airplane crash on March 31, 1931. His remarkable life will be celebrated in The History Museum’s exhibit Rockne: Life and Legacy. This ultimate retrospective of Knute Rockne will be the most significant presentation of Rockne artifacts ever assembled and made available to the public, offering a unique look at Notre Dame’s and college football’s greatest legend. View through May 31, 2026

RELATED CONTENT: Listen to ROCKNE: The Legend Lives on podcast

City and Campus: Rediscovering Lost Landmarks​

This year marks 50 years since the Great Lakes freighter, Edmund Fitzgerald, sank in Lake Superior. The Gordon Lightfoot song that appeared the following year helped educate the public on the dangers of being a Great Lakes sailor. This exhibit will cover several shipwrecks that have occurred on the inland seas. View through July 2026.

Freshwater Fury: Great Lakes Shipwrecks

This year marks 50 years since the Great Lakes freighter, Edmund Fitzgerald, sank in Lake Superior. The Gordon Lightfoot song that appeared the following year helped educate the public on the dangers of being a Great Lakes sailor. This exhibit will cover several shipwrecks that have occurred on the inland seas. View through July 2026.

Celebrating 75 Years of Logan​

For 75 years, LOGAN Community Resources, Inc. has been a pillar in the community, providing exceptional support, services, and advocacy for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Learn more in this exhibit! View through October 2025.

Permanent Exhibits

Voyages: The History of the St. Joseph Valley Region

Seven rooms of dioramas and interactive displays explain how the St. Joseph River Valley blossomed from dense forest to the age of French exploration and into a thriving Midwest industrial center. Visitors can "walk" the portage that connected the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. They can see how early settlers lived in the area. This permanent exhibit tells how the native Potawatomi were forcibly removed from the area in the 1830s.

It also touches on the Grand Kankakee Marsh, which was dredged for farmland. An award-winning, 30-minute video documentary in the Free Life Theatre features stories about the African American community in the region from the 1820s through World War I.

Another area explains industrial growth in the late 1800s, including the rise of Studebaker and the Oliver Chilled Plow Works.

Guide yourself through this area so you can take in each display on your own time.

First in their Field: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League​

Men abroad during World War II sparked an idea for Philip Wrigley – create the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Immortalized in the film A League of Their Own, the league actually operated for 12 years. Teams propped in cities across the Midwest. South Bend jumped into the game with the South Bend Blue Sox. It was one of the original four teams and stayed in the league for all 12 seasons.

The History Museum’s collection — a repository for the league — includes photographs, programs, film footage, scrapbooks and playing equipment used by teams. It’s a treasure for baseball and The Bend.

Colfax: Speaker for Freedom

Colfax: Speaker for Freedom is an in-depth exhibit on the life and times of Schuyler Colfax. Colfax was born in the region and went on to a storied political career. He rose to prominence as Speaker of the House under president Abraham Lincoln, during which time he guided passage of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. He later served as vice president to Ulysses S. Grant.

Unseen Treasures of the Oliver Mansion

Items from the Oliver Mansion that aren’t normally seen on a house tour are on display in this permanent exhibit.

In 2024 the historic Navarre Cabin, the oldest structure in St. Joseph County, was slowly and carefully reloacted from Leeper Park East to The History Museum campus. The Navarre Cabin Homestead site includes cabin tours, educational programming, informative programming to include information about local and European goods typical of the Fur Trade, foodways of pioneer times, how the early settlers tended health needs, and ways the growing community cared for livestock.

Pierre Freischutz Navarre was the first person of European descent to settle in St. Joseph County. Navarre’s arrival played a significant role in the history of St. Joseph County, and his presence paved the way for the founding of the city of South Bend. Navarre married a Potawatomi woman named Keshewaquay, who adopted the name Angelique. Along with their seven children, they lived in the cabin on the north side of the St. Joseph River, near what is now 123 W. North Shore Drive.

The Worker's Home tells the story of the community's African American history as well as the Great Migration and the Civil Rights Movement through guided tours and special programs. Furniture, furnishings, photographs, and other materials in the home reflect those periods in history. It continues its mission since first opening in 1994 to tell the history of workers and their families, with special attention to the many ethnicities of the St. Joseph River Valley Region.

Kidsfirst engages children’s imaginations through hands-on environments and provides fun ways for young ones to discover history. In Kidsfirst, kids will find Pierre Navarre’s Cabin, complete with a child-sized dining table, chair and bed, plus hands-on household items.

Hand-crafted furniture gives an authentic feel to the 1830s one-room schoolhouse, adjacent to Navarre’s Cabin. An 1838 map of South Bend and McGuffey Readers can be explored in the schoolhouse.

Adjacent to the schoolhouse is the trading post of Lathrop Taylor, who was one of the founding fathers of South Bend. Like many of the first residents in South Bend, Lathrop Taylor was a fur trader who built a trading post along the St. Joseph River.

In Peter Coleman’s livery stable and farrier shop, kids can learn about Peter Coleman, the first local African American settler. His trade, among the most essential on the frontier, can be “practiced” using the new brick forge, shoeing horse, and mountable, saddled “pony.”

Kids can also explore Chief Leopold Pokagon’s wigwam and “navigate” the St. Joseph River in a life-sized birch-bark canoe.

*Kidsfirst areas are wheelchair accessible to meet current American Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.

The Museum Boutique offers a unique shopping experience. The perfect treasure is bound to be found here with exclusive merchandise, one-of-a-kind items, officially licensed apparel, and carefully selected antiques. Take a piece of history home with you. You can also shop the online store. *Please note: all purchases must be picked up locally.

History buffs or anyone looking to dive deeper into some of the stories and local figures who featured prominently in our past, you'll want to check out “A Bend in Time,” a new podcast of curated histories of the greater South Bend area. Presented by The History Museum and hosted by Aaron Helman, a new series of 8 episodes will be released quarterly starting on October 8, 2024.