The year 2022 marks the 125th anniversary of when the Oliver family moved into their new home at 808 West Washington Street–Copshaholm, as they would later call it. To celebrate, The History Museum is having a year-long focus on the mansion through exhibit displays, programs, and special promotions. Visit our website as we explore the Oliver Mansion, remember the Oliver family, and recall the year 1897.
TAKE A PEEK INSIDE COPSHAHOLM, THE OLIVER MANSION
Use your mouse to maneuver around the inside of the J.D. Oliver family home.
SPECIAL EVENTS CELEBRATING THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OLIVER MANSION
UPCOMING SPECIAL 125COPSHAHOLM EVENTS
Throughout 2022 there will be many events that celebrate the 125th anniversary of Copshaholm, make sure to check back here often.
Gaslights & Granite Boulders Specialty Tour
January 22, 2022 4:00 p.m.
On this behind-the-scenes tour of the 38-room Oliver Mansion, led by Curator of Copshaholm Skylar Stasney, you’ll learn about the evolution of the historic house’s technology. Visits to the lower levels of both the mansion and Carriage House show you firsthand how light, heat, and water made the mansion a comfortable place to live throughout the years. The tour is limited. Reservations are required. To buy tickets, click the button below $25/general; $20/members.
THE OLIVER FAMILY
Joseph D. Oliver & Anna Gertrude Wells
Married on December 10, 1884, J.D. and Anna Oliver were 46 and 34, respectively, when they moved into their 38-room mansion. They met when Anna came to South Bend to visit Grace Studebaker, a classmate at Madam de Silva’s Finishing School in New York.
The Joseph D. & Anna Gertrude Oliver Children
J.D. and Anna Oliver had 4 children when they moved into Copshaholm in 1897: James II was 11, Gertrude was 8, Joseph Jr. was 4, and Catherine was only 9 months old.
Joseph D. Oliver
J.D. Oliver was treasurer of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works when the family moved into Copshaholm in 1897. Upon the death of his father, James, in 1908, J.D. became president of the company.
Copshaholm was built of granite fieldstones, most of which were hand-selected by J.D. Oliver’s father, James, from farms and fields in St. Joseph County, where they lived.
The 12,000-square-foot Oliver Mansion has 3 floors and 38 rooms. It is often said the children’s favorite room was the Den, because they could often find their father there, working at his desk when he was not at the Oliver Chilled Plow Works.
A Carriage House was on the grounds of Copshaholm, and it housed the family’s cars and stabled some of their horses.
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