Exploring the University of Notre Dame’s Unique CDP status

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The University of Notre Dame’s campus is in Notre Dame, Indiana, an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Northern Indiana’s “Michiana” area. It is north of South Bend, four miles from the Michigan state line.

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What is a Census-Designated Place?

A CDP is a statistical geographic entity representing closely settled, unincorporated communities recognized by name. They are like incorporated places but lack a legally defined boundary and a functioning government.

Examples of CDPs include unincorporated communities, planned communities, military installations, university towns , and resort towns. Some specific examples include Hershey, Pennsylvania; The Villages, Florida; and Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Stanford University is also a CDP in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California.

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What is the Purpose of a CDP?

They are used for the purposes of gathering and correlating statistical data. The boundaries of any CDP may change from decade to decade. The Census Bureau may de-establish a CDP after a period of study too.

CDPs may be more urban than their surroundings or have a concentrated population with a residential nucleus. They often contain large institutions distinct from surrounding areas.

Indiana has 568 incorporated places and 113 census-designated places.

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The University of Notre Dame as a CDP

Stephen Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States, bought 524 acres in the area in 1830. In 1842, the bishop of Vincennes offered land to Edward Sorin of the Congregation of Holy Cross, provided he built a college in two years. Sorin arrived on November 26, 1842 and began the school using Badin’s old log chapel.

Development of the Notre Dame campus began in spring 1843 when Sorin and his congregation built the Old College, used as a residence, bakery, and classroom.

Notre Dame started as a primary and secondary school; in 1844, it received its college charter from the Indiana General Assembly. The university expanded in the following decades.

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Today, the campus spans 1,250 acres south of the Indiana Toll Road and includes around 170 buildings and athletic fields around its two lakes and seven quadrangles.

Notre Dame, Indiana, the CDP, includes the campuses of three schools: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, and Holy Cross College, split between Clay and Portage Townships.

Since unincorporated communities lack municipal governments, their entities are the US Post Office and the universities’ police forces. The University of Notre Dame also has its own water and power utilities and fire department.

South Bend, Indiana was settled by fur traders and was established as a city in 1865.

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