St. Joseph County Council votes to relocate Navarre Cabin to The History Museum 9-0

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The St. Joseph County Council voted 9-0 to relocate St. Joseph County’s oldest structure, The Navarre Cabin, to The History Museum, Tuesday night. 

Earlier that day, the county commissioners unanimously voted in favor of the relocation from its current location at Leeper Park as well.

The cabin was originally built in 1820 by the counties first European Settler, Pierre Navarre.

Navarre set up a fir trading post on the north side of the St. Joseph County River, where he lived with his wife.

The South Bend History Museum acquired the cabin in 1895, saving it from demolition.

However, they say its Leeper Park location has posed a number of problems.

St. Joseph County Councilman, Randy Fig, told ABC57 over the phone he and another council member brought the bill forward to the county and voted in favor of the move, along with all nine council members.

Fig says it’s a win-win for the county.

This is not the Cabin’s first move; the museum will be its fifth location.

It was moved across the river and around Leeper Park twice before finding its current spot off Michigan Street in 1954.

The History Museum was not available for comment this afternoon, but they hope to create a Navarre Homestead on their campus and expand their programming related to the cabin to increase educational opportunities for the community, schools and tourists.

The project would be paid for fully by the museum and its donors.