Elkhart High School - Pennant Yearbook (Elkhart, IN)

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SI rnrrn min i m i .llllllllllll llllll: 1 ■ -liTffl D The Old Elkhart High School The first survey for a town site was made for Dr. Beardsley by George Crawford in 1832. The first manufactury was a saw mill erected by John Huntsman. The first house in town was built by Horace Root, the second was built by Samuel Beebe on the corner of Main and Jackson streets. For several years the Post Office bore the name of Pulaski and rceived and dispatched mail once a week. George Crawford was the first Postmaster. In 1836 the village had only 200 inhabitants. Samuel Beebe opened the first mercantile establishment on the site now oc- cupied by the Hotel Bucklen. Other early merchants were Brodrick Defress, Crawford, Davenport and Elijah Beardsley who are almost without exception represented by descendants in or near the city at the present time. The city was given its present name by Dr. Beardsley because of an island at the confluence of the two rivers which resembles the heart of an Elk. iiii ' .imiiiiiiiiiTT iiniiiiiimiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiiiiiiiiiiinr — 6 —

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nullum • ' -ii ■ ■ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiinm V HISTORY OF ELKHART The land whereon now stands the thriving city of Elkhart was once the property of the Ottawas, Chippewas and the Pottawatomies. The noble forests which sheltered them, long ago succumbed to the acts of the settler and the clear water of the beautiful St. Joseph instead of reflecting dense forests and painted savages in bark canoes now reflect the tall smokestacks and massive walls of mills and factories in great variety which resound with the hum of industry. It was about the year 1800 when Samuel Bibbens visited the present site of Elkhart. He found only two white men and they were French traders who were temporarily here for barter with the Indians. It was not until 1827 that white men settled on the site of the present city. Early in that year Jesse Rush and Andrew Naffsinger with their families settled on the northwest bank of the St. Joseph in that part of the city now known as Riverside. Early in the year 1831 Dr. Havilah Beardsley coming from Ohio purchased of Pierre Morain, a Potta- watomie chief a square mile of territory. iimniiiiiiii . ' ■ ! ' iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.iniiiiiii — 5 —

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q i ii iii ii ii iiii ii i ii iii i ii i iii i iiii ii i i ' i i i i i i i i iiiiiiiii iiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiim iniiiiniimiimmm f i Familiar Scenes in Old Elkhart rx ii i i iiiiiiiiiiii i ii i iiiiiiiiiiiiii ii i iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii i i i iiiiii i iiiiii im i mii iii ii i i i iii ii i C 7 —