Community support needed for Historic Navarre Cabin’s next chapter

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- South Bend’s oldest structure, the Navarre Cabin, is entering a new phase, and the community is being called upon to help bring the vision to life.

Imagine stepping back into South Bend in the 1800s, experiencing the daily life of early settlers firsthand. That’s exactly the immersive experience the History Museum hopes to offer visitors with their Homestead Campus.

Years after being saved from demolition back in 1895, the cabin was carefully relocated to the museum campus last year, becoming the centerpiece of what the museum hopes will become an immersive educational experience.

The History Museum is launched a crowdfunding campaign earlier this month with a goal to raise $50,000 by July 13. These funds will help unlock a matching grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, supporting an expansion of programming designed to bring South Bend’s early history to life.

“We have a cabin now, but nothing exists in a vacuum,” said Kristie Erickson, Deputy Executive Director of the History Museum. “Our goal is to tell a more complete story from the early 1800s through the 1850s highlighting the dawn of the City of South Bend.”

The grant is part of the statewide CreatINg Places program and will aid fundraising efforts for Phase One of the project, which the museum hopes to complete by summer 2026. Renderings reveal plans to transform the cabin area into a fully immersive village experience.

The History Museum invites the public to join their journey. Donations can be made through this link.

More information on a talk being held at the Museum on June 4th about the Cabin’s move can be found here.