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Today, a stretch of land near Lincoln Way West and Ironwood along the St. Joseph River is home to IU South Bend's student housing complex.
But somewhere in there, buried deep beneath the surface, lies what's left of a now 150-year-old tragedy.
“Oh my gosh, it was terrible! It was a terrible accident,” said historian David Bainbridge with the Northern Indiana Center for History.
“It was June 27th 1859,” he said, pointing to the original newspaper article published a few days later.
It was around midnight. A passenger train with the Michigan South and Northern Indiana Railroad was approaching a ravine.
“And there had been a driving rain storm going on for quite a while,” he said.
When the train reached the trestle, it all washed away: the train, the tracks, and embankment. It all came crashing down into the rushing water below.
“Five cars or more went down in the ravine,” said Bainbridge.
Forty people died and fifty were hurt. As the newspaper put it, “the scene was sorrowful beyond description … all was done within the power of man" [to find the survivors in the wreckage.] Doctors and others reportedly came from as far away as LaPorte to help.
“People talked about it for years,” said Bainbridge. “And supposedly the engine and part of the wreckage is still buried there.”
Years later, that very spot again made history, but on a much lighter note. Today, a crumbling concrete grandstand is all the remains of what – for decades – was the local hotspot for family fun and entertainment.
In the late 1800’s and into the 1900’s, the area was known first as Springbrook Park and later as Playland – a place for family activities and concerts that brought celebrities of the day including Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Guy Lombardo.
During World War Two, it was home field for the South Bend Blue Sox – the All-American Girl's Baseball League.
There was also horse racing, car racing and, until 1960, an amusement park. A historical recap can be found on the site at the entrance of the Indiana University South Bend student housing complex on Ironwood Road.