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UER Store
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sweet UER decals:
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579 online
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2024-04-23 18:59:56
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Location DB >
United States >
Indiana >
South Bend >
Studebaker Plant
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This location has been labeled by its creator as Public, and therefore can be viewed by anyone.
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Large complex of industrial buildings.
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Type: Complex of over a dozen interconnected buildings
Status: Being Renovated
Accessibility: Moderate
Recommendation: worth the trip
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fire damage in one building, some pits and holes in the floor.
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Several large holes in floor that were used to lower car bodies on chassis. A LOT of large buildings to look through. Check the upper floors! Lots of leftovers from the stamping company, including body-panel presses for Ford and AMC cars/trucks. Low security, and it's gunna be GONE SOON!
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fences
welded doors
wooden boarding
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In 1850 Henry and Clement Studebaker arrived in South Bend, Indiana where they founded H & C Studebaker factory to make wagons and became one of the largest manufactures of horse-drawn vehicles in the world. A third brother, John Mohler, joined the business only to leave for the gold rush in California. IN California J. M. made wheelbarrows and within three years had saved $3,000. Within five years he had amassed $8,000 and in letters to his brothers helped them make better wagons. J. M. returned to South Bend with his $8,000 and invested it in the family business. By 1860, the firm grew rapidly including a manufacturing shop, a print shop, a lumber yard and an office. By 1867, H. & C. Studebaker was turning out 6,000 vehicles each year, including wagons, carriages and buggies. In 1868 the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company was incorporated with a capitalization of $75,000. After the incorporation sales and services branches were established around the country. In the final year of the 19th century sales were nearly $4 million and Frederick S. Fish, the son-in-law of J. M., became president of Studebaker. Fish was a "Car nut" and by 1898 Studebaker was doing a flourishing business as a body suppler to other manufactures of electric vehicles. The firm began manufacturing electric vehicles in 1902 although they were mostly used in urban areas. Fish moved Studebaker into manufacturing gasoline cars in 1904 along with electric cars. By 1906, Studebaker sales (wagons included) was $6.8 million. The Studebaker Corporation was officially incorporated in 1911. The assets being Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company and the Everitt-Metzger-Flanders Company that were folded into the new entity. Albert Erskine, who would guide the corporation's fortunes for more than two decades, joined the firm in 1911. The last Studebaker Electric was built in 1913 and J. M. celebrated his eightieth birthday. The 1913 model year marked the final emergence of the Studebaker brand as a major nameplate in its own right. To meet increased demand for Studebaker cars the company expanded its manufacturing facilities in Detroit and Walkersville (Ontario). The company reached sales of $61.9 million in 1916 with a profit of $8.6 million. By 1921 Studebaker took in $96.7 million and posted a record $9.8 million in profits. Which was impressive in a year in which the nation underwent a short, sharp recession that nearly brought to ruin industry giants such as General Motors and Willys-Overland. Studebaker celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 1927 and Albert Erskine was the master of the company. Despite the Great Depression Erskine continued to pay dividends which caused the company to bleed red. On March 18, 1933 Studebaker was forced into receivership. At sixty-two Erskine was in ill health and broke and he killed himself. Paul G. Hoffman and Harold Vance brought Studebaker back from the abyss with the Detroit plant being closed and the five year ownership of Pierce-Arrow was ended. In 1936, the company reversed the financial picture with a profit of $2.8 million being reported on sales of $68.9 million. The UAW was formally recognized by Studebaker on May 21, 1937, thus avoiding the violence that hit Detroit. During the war years Studebaker went to war as did the rest of the car companies. By 1946 Studebaker's financial position had strengthened, but it was a small company compared to the Big Three. Its key strength was the loyal worker base at South Bend and in 1946 did not lose a single day to strikes in any of its facilities. The 1947 Studebakers were the first all-new postwar body designs to come from any American manufacturer. Studebaker outdistanced its established competition by one-and-a-half to four full years and grabbed the public's imagination. Studebaker celebrated its centennial in 1952, but sales were down as the Big Three got larger. On October 1, 1954 Studebaker purchased Packard and in doing so made the same mistake they had done in purchasing Pierce-Arrow. By the 1960s sales started to slow down and the Avanti was introduced to bring back the excitement. But by 1966 the end came to Studebaker although the Avanti would live on for years to come.
Built in the late 1890s had many uses over the years. It first housed ne of the original Studebaker wooden wagon assembly lines. In 1922, the building was renovated for making automobiles. Later, part of the company's Athletic Club (which included a boxing ring, basketball court, and archery and shooting ranges) was on the fourth floor , until it was cleared out to assemble airplane parts during World War II. After the war, cars once again rolled out until the company closed in 1963, at which time Building #48 was used as a warehouse for Transwestern Investments, Inc.
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September 29, 2003
Vagrants may have kindled plant fire
Officials weigh razing empty factory early
By GWEN O'BRIEN
Tribune Staff Writer
A South Bend firefighter walks past the smoldering fire that had engulfed the center of an old stamping factory at 601 W. Broadway St. Sunday evening. The building had been built for use by Studebaker in the 1920s. Homeless people apparently living inside the building may have started the fire, according to investigators.
Tribune Photo/JASON MILLER
SOUTH BEND -- A huge plume of smoke blended into the rainy skies over South Bend Sunday afternoon as a fire in an abandoned factory in the Studebaker complex at 601 W. Broadway St. burned out of control.
City fire investigators speculated homeless people may have been living in the former stamping plant and set fire to some paper to keep warm. The cause is still under investigation.
"This place is notorious for having vagrants stay here. It's not secure," arson investigator Capt. Steve Weiger said of the building. Weiger pointed out the building's open doors and broken windows. A fence surrounds the dozens of vacant buildings.
Just before 5 p.m., someone called 911 to report smoke in the area south of the city police and central fire stations, which are in the 700 block of West Sample Street.
Firefighters located the blaze and broke a padlock on a fence to get in. Because the facility has been abandoned for years, there were apparently no working fire hydrants inside the compound.
"Out biggest challenge was there were no hydrants close by," said Battalion Chief Robert Sanders, who was in charge at the scene.
South Bend police Cpl. James Taylor helped locate fire hydrants outside the fence. Fire crews hooked up hoses to the city hydrants and strung the hoses underneath the fence.
"We hooked up 1,000-foot hoses to the hydrants and hooked them up to the pumper trucks and sent the water out through another 1,000-foot hose. It's called relay pumping. Once we got that going, we got the fire out," Sanders said.
Aerial ladder trucks allowed firefighters to douse the fire from the outside before sending firefighters into the building to attack the blaze from inside.
Firefighters were still putting out hot spots two hours after the initial call. Firefighters from six city fire stations responded, including six engines and three aerial ladder trucks.
Weiger said the fire started in a second floor office area of the plant.
"There's paper in there and (homeless people) get in there and they cover themselves in the paper to stay warm or they light the paper on fire to warm up. That's probably what happened today, and the fire got away from them," Weiger said.
Andy Laurent, economic development specialist in the city's redevelopment department, is very familiar with the complex and the enormous building that caught fire. He is the project manager for the Studebaker/Oliver project, which seeks to redevelop 140 acres of inner-city land once occupied by Studebaker and Oliver Plow Works factories.
"The fire started in the old human resources office where there was plenty of paper. That's probably the only flammable thing in the place," Laurent said.
In March 2002 the city purchased the complex from Allied Products, which had once leased the buildings to a company called South Bend Stamping. South Bend Stamping shut down in June 1999, Laurent said.
"This particular building that caught fire was 75 years old. Studebaker built it in the 1920s," Laurent said.
The buildings within the complex were expected to be demolished within the next year or two, Laurent said. But this building will likely need to come down in the near future.
"I think we will have to do some selective demolition. I'm going to go out with the Fire Department (today) and inspect it, and we'll get bids for emergency demolition for this building," Laurent said.
Laurent said he was glad no firefighters were hurt while fighting the blaze.
"There are 20-foot-deep pits inside the building that kind of just drop off," Laurent said. "I wouldn't want to be running around there in the dark. I walked around there before in the daytime and it was dangerous."
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As of 2017, much of the buildings are being renovated and restored.
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pano
Thu, Jul 8th, 2004
posted by dev
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The moderator rating is a neutral rating of the content quality, photography, and coolness of this location.
| Category |
Rating |
| Photography |
5 / 10 |
| Coolness |
7 / 10 |
| Content Quality |
9 / 10 |
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This location's validation is current. It was last validated by
Emperor Wang on 10/14/2018 11:16 PM.
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on Oct 14 18 at 23:16, Emperor Wang validated this location
on Oct 14 18 at 23:15, Emperor Wang changed the following: History
on Oct 14 18 at 23:13, Emperor Wang changed the following: Media Coverage
on Oct 14 18 at 15:59, S&J Explore changed the following: Status, Media Coverage, Future Plans
on Feb 27 07 at 0:31, Emperor Wang validated this location
on Feb 27 07 at 0:30, Emperor Wang updated the main picture
on Feb 26 07 at 21:12, Brian Ohm added some pictures to a gallery
on Feb 26 07 at 21:08, Brian Ohm added some pictures to a gallery
on Feb 26 07 at 21:03, Brian Ohm added some pictures to a gallery
on Feb 26 07 at 20:57, Brian Ohm created a new gallery
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