• Date: 1891
• Style: Commercial Italianate
• District: Downtown Historic Registry

The John G. Kerr and Company Building is the only remaining downtown example of the once prevalent commercial Italianate style of the late nineteenth century. Although there are several small commercial Italianate structures scattered throughout older neighborhoods in South Bend, the Kerr Building is one of the earliest three-story structures and has the most elaborate window treatments. The original cornice and brackets were removed in the late 1940s after a fire. The storefront still has the original cast iron columns. Built in 1891, the first occupant was the J. G. Kerr and Company, which dealt in new and secondhand goods. Kerr and Company occupied the building until 1896, followed by William Downes, Plumbing and Gas Fittings, and the Transfer Line and Moving Van Company, which remained until 1913. The building has been occupied since 1914 by a number of small commercial concerns.

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