Read time: 8 min.

A few days ago, news broke that Portage Manor, the former St. Joseph County Infirmary, had been sold to the South Bend’s Saint Thomas More Academy. That’s fantastic news for a grand old building that’s sat vacant for three years¹! I’m thrilled that the former county home will find a new purpose, and I’m selfishly hoping its new owners will make it easier to photograph. Driving 150 miles only to find the place inaccessible was a real kick in the pants. I should have planned better. 

St. Joseph County is where Notre Dame is, for those of you un-Hoosiered. Its first infirmary opened in 1846. Known as White Hall, the facility stood on a 200-acre farm along the Michigan Road, six or seven miles outside South Bend. Unfortunately, White Hall’s accommodations left something to be desired: the building was described as “very defective in construction and the general plan, and poorly furnished².” I suspect that assessment had something to do with the county’s decision to purchase 240 acres between South Bend and Mishawaka around 1850³. By 1857, a new county home stood at the northeast corner of what’s now Ironwood Drive and Jefferson Boulevard⁴.

The second infirmary served St. Joseph County for nearly fifty years before officials decided to build anew in what was then German Township northwest of South Bend⁵. The $100,000 main building was a sprawling Classical Revival showpiece, built of red brick with tan quoins and limestone trim. Four towering Ionic columns supported a massive gabled portico⁶, while a welcoming porch and reception hall greeted visitors with a “mosaic floor of tasty design⁷.” Whatever shortcomings the original White Hall suffered, its second successor made up for them in architectural ambition.

South Bend architects Freyermuth and Maurer were responsible for the infirmary’s magnificent design⁸. Established in 1897, their partnership produced some of the city’s most distinctive buildings, including the South Bend Remedy Company Building, the North Pumping Station, the Sons of Israel Synagogue -now the South Bend Cubs’ gift shop- and James Monroe School. All are impressive, particularly Monroe, but I think the county home may have been their masterpiece. Unfortunately, Freyermuth and Maurer’s partnership ended in 1934 when Freyermuth was elected mayor⁹.

The building followed a trident-shaped plan. Behind the main entrance, a central section housed administrative offices, living and dining rooms, and a private kitchen for the superintendent. The north wing accommodated men, while the south wing housed women. Each featured dining rooms and spacious first-floor day rooms, with sleeping quarters upstairs. A smaller rear wing contained the kitchen, and a separate building apparently provided sixteen wards for residents then classified as insane¹⁰.

Ironically, the infirmary reached its greatest population when Freyermuth occupied the mayor’s office. By 1937, an astonishing 351 people lived in a building originally designed for about 120¹¹! Conditions grew so crowded that residents diagnosed with severe mental illnesses or impairments were transferred to Norman Beatty Mental Hospital in nearby Westville¹². That institution eventually evolved into what became the Westville Correctional Facility in 1979¹³.

As the decades passed, the St. Joseph County Home adopted a friendlier name: Portage Manor. Many of Indiana’s old county infirmaries gradually rebranded or emptied as their original purpose disappeared during the arrival of Medicare and Medicaid, but St. Joseph County’s remained busy: by 1981, Portage Manor had transitioned into a residential care facility for adults capable of handling most of their daily needs. Ninety-seven people lived there then¹⁴.

Unfortunately, the institution’s longevity couldn’t protect it from the problems that emerged four decades later. Despite the quality of care its residents were purported to receive¹⁵, Portage Manor ran afoul of Indiana regulations by operating without a licensed administrator¹⁶. County commissioners ultimately voted to close the facility, even though more than a hundred people still called it home¹⁷. Sadly, Portage Manor shut its doors for good on July 31, 2023¹⁸.

Fortunately, though, the building survived. Portage Manor is one of the grandest county homes left in Indiana, and I hadn’t expected to photograph it until much later in my project. That changed during a trip in late March, when I headed north to document the old infirmaries in Noble and LaGrange Counties. Once I’d finished, I realized South Bend wasn’t terribly far away. I’d have to cross through Elkhart County, which no longer features a county home, but why not add one more?

My scheme seemed like a fine idea until the extra miles hit me like a ton of old Studebaker iron. By the time I left US-20 and turned onto Ireland Road, I was beat! I also hadn’t appreciated that reaching Portage Manor would involve another seven miles through South Bend itself. Nevertheless, I pressed north, eager to see the old landmark. As soon as I spotted it , though, my heart sank. Every entrance from Portage Avenue to Boland Drive was gated shut! Orange traffic barriers and RESTRICTED AREA signs made it abundantly clear that visitors weren’t welcome. I’d driven all that way to photograph a building I couldn’t even approach.

Running low on gas and patience, I pulled into a nearby Phillips station, put twenty bucks in the tank, and tried to figure out my next move. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one. Portage Manor had no secret entrance. My only option was to snap whatever pictures I could through the car window while negotiating the roundabout’s heavy traffic. In retrospect, I could have parked at the gas station and walked over for a better view, but even that felt sketchy. They turned out better than I thought since I was driving when I took them, but the handful of roadside photos I’ve shared here was all I had to show for all that driving. 

When I tried to visit it, the old infirmary’s future was uncertain. I’d heard rumors about redevelopment, but some residents thankfully opposed propositions that could have resulted in the landmark’s demolition. Another plan envisioned cooperative housing. Ultimately, the 2025 proposal from Saint Thomas More Academy won out. The school intends to consolidate into the former infirmary and make it a permanent home. That will start with an investment of $5–7 million and hopefully include another $30 million to develop the surrounding campus¹⁹.

That’s an enormous commitment, but it’s encouraging to see such an impressive old building given another chance. Too many of Indiana’s former county homes have been abandoned, demolished, or left to deteriorate beyond repair. Portage Manor deserves better, and it looks like its story is finally set for another chapter.

I don’t know when renovations will begin, but I hope the gates open back up again. I’d love another chance to photograph Freyermuth and Maurer’s masterpiece, preferably without dodging traffic or driving 150 miles for nothing! More importantly, I’m glad that a building originally intended to serve some of St. Joseph County’s most vulnerable residents will survive to serve another generation. That’s a far better ending than a date with the wrecking ball.

Sources Cited
1 Oudhoff, N. (2026, October 6). St. Joseph County Commissioners approve sale of Portage Manor to St. Thomas More Academy. WSBT [South Bend]. Web. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
2 Saint Joseph County Infirmary (n.d.). Asylum Projects. Web. Retrieved October 8, 2026.
3 (See footnote 2).
4 New Map of St. Joseph County (1900). Hixson Map Company. South Bend Tribune. Map.
5 Open New Infirmary (1907, February 21). The South Bend Tribune. p. 4.
6 National Register of Historic Places, St. Joseph County Infirmary, South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana, National Register #00000670.
7 (See footnote 5).
8 (See footnote 6).
9 Former City Mayor, Freyermuth, Dies (1958, May 31). The South Bend Tribune. p. 1.
10 (See footnote 5).
11 Saint Joseph County Infirmary (2026, February 27). Asylum Projects. Web. Retrieved October 9, 2026.
12 (See footnote 11).
13 Westville Correctional Facility (n.d.). Indiana Department of Administration [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved October 9, 2026.
14 Wensits, J. (1981, October 7). Portage Manor praised by medical community. The South Bend Tribune. p. 31.
15 Smith, J. (2022, May 12). ‘Bridge…To The Next Crisis.” The South Bend Tribune. p. A1.
16 (See footnote 15).
17 Dits, J. (2023, February 16). Closure of Portage Manor in motion after vote. The South Bend Tribune. p. A8.
18 Gotsch, M. (2023, July 31). Portage Manor officially closes its doors. WNDH [South Bend]. Web. Retrieved October 9, 2026.
19 Balog, J. (2026, May 6). Future of Portage Manor is to be determined. The South Bend Tribune. p. A4.