By the 20th century, Studebaker began producing cars, competing against the top manufacturers in the country. In order to keep up, Studebaker hired employees to run huge factories, like the one where “Assembly 84” is located. The massive assembly campus drew immigrants into South Bend.
Automobile Production 1900s-1930s
The last surviving Studebaker brother, John Mohler, was at the helm during the transition to auto production. He led the reorganization of the company into the Studebaker Corporation in 1911 with $23 million in assets, $620 million today. His death in 1917 ended the first generation of Studebakers involved in the corporation.
Albert Russel Erskine took over as President and continued expanding the company, raising a crop of sequentially-numbered factory buildings on the campus. The now-iconic Assembly 84 building was built in 1923 and designed by Detroit-based leading industrial architect, Albert Kahn. The building was 6 stories tall with around 800,000 square feet of floor space. Kahn used his signature technique of structuring the building with reinforced concrete instead of wood.
Studebaker heavily recruited Central Europeans who were already in the midst of an economically-driven mass migration to the United States to come to South Bend and work in the factory. These new Americans brought with them their religious beliefs, cultural traditions, food, and language. As a result, South Bend became a predominantly Catholic community. It was home to numerous ethnic restaurants and celebrated holidays like the Polish celebration, Dyngus Day.
Factory jobs also appealed to African Americans and enticed them to move north as part of the Great Migration. In 1940, African Americans made up only 3.5% of South Bend’s population, but by 1960 the number had increased to 10% and continued to grow. Today, approximately 27% of South Bend’s residents are African American. Largely due to factory jobs, South Bend’s population boomed from 36,000 in 1900 to 132,000 at its peak in 1960.
The End of Studebaker, 1960s
By the 1960s, Studebaker no longer led as the competitive driving force in the automobile industry. High labor costs, quality concerns, and sales issues stressed the corporation. In 1963, Studebaker announced they would close the South Bend factory. They promised their 7,000 employees they would help them find jobs. Production would be moving to Hamilton, Canada where it completely stopped in 1966.
Looking Forward
The Assembly 84 building now represents opportunities for the future. Portions of the building are being renovated to house new types of businesses. Studebaker may no longer be the city’s largest employer, but the legacy of its diverse employees is still present in the fabric of contemporary South Bend.
]]>Studebaker Plaza, today a city-owned public space, serves as a reminder of the humble roots of South Bend's industrial age. The enormous Studebaker corporation grew from a small blacksmith shop established on the corner of Michigan Street and Jefferson Boulevard in 1852. Studebaker wagons began the industrial era of South Bend, catalyzing the city’s status as a manufacturing center until the 1960s, when the Studebaker Corporation closed. Studebaker Plaza, which opened in 2013, commemorates their significance.
H & C Studebaker, 1852
The corporation started in 1852 when the eldest Studebaker brothers, Henry and Clement, opened H & C Studebaker Blacksmith Shop on this site. They were later joined by their brothers: John Mohler, Peter Evans, and Jacob Franklin who helped expand the business. The three eldest brothers were born in Pennsylvania to John Clement Studebaker and Rebecca Mohler. The family moved to Ashland, Ohio, birthplace of the younger brothers, in 1835, and opened a blacksmith and wagon shop. As young adults in search of financial opportunities and seeking a shop of their own, Henry and Clement moved to South Bend. The rest of the Studebaker family followed in 1851.
Military Contracts Spark Growth 1850s-1860s
A military contract helped transform Studebaker from a small South Bend shop to an industrial factory. It also broke up the founding pair of brothers. Henry and Clement took on a military subcontract to make 100 wagons for the Federal Army in 1857. Once the contract was completed, Henry decided it was against his Dunkard, or German Baptist, beliefs to supply goods for the military. He and Clement solicited younger brother, John Mohler, who had saved up $8,000 making wheelbarrows in California during the Gold Rush, to return to South Bend. John bought out Henry’s portion of the business. Henry retired to a life of farming.
During the Civil War, Studebaker supplied the Union Army with wagons, which turned out to be a key business move. Civil War veterans sought out the dependable Studebaker wagons they knew they could trust. In the 1860s the brothers went from manufacturing made-to-order wagons in their small shop to building a large factory south of town for mass production.
Growth did not stop there for the Studebakers. Peter built their first wagon “dealership” next to his Goshen, Indiana shop before joining his brothers in South Bend in 1863. By 1868, they chartered their business as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company with $250,000 in assets, nearly $4 million today.
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