The Oliver House - South Bend Indiana

On a recent trip to South Bend Indiana, I visited the Studebaker National Museum . I found out that it shares a building with The History Museum of South Bend , so my desire to see some classic cars opened the door to a chance to explore the life of one of South Bend’s key industrialists of the 19 th and 20 th century. Howard, Timothy Edward [Public domain] via wikimedia James Oliver (1823 – 1908) was born Scotland. He moved to Mishawaka Indiana in 1836 along with several of his siblings. The area he lived in was near a large bog that provided iron ore for local industry. James took a job at the South Bend Blast Furnace Company in 1839. This is where he learned to refine and cast iron. User:MarkusHagenlocher [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] In 1855, James moved to South Bend, and entered into a partnership at the South Bend Iron Works. Over the years James Oliver developed and patented several improvements to the fiel...