Name/Title
Business, Histories, Hotel, Brief History of Early Waupun HotelsDescription
Brief History of Early Waupun Hotels: Prepared by Edith Moul Scott, June 1959. Page 1. Waupun's earliest hotel was the Wilcox log house where the occasional traveler found shelter and welcome. As the community grew and became a wheat shipping center of importance, numerous hotels were necessary to accommodate the large number of teamsters who had to spend the night in Waupun. We read that during the shipping season, wagons lined the entire length of Main Street, then Washington Street, between Upper and Lower towns, two rows deep. These hotels were sometimes the scenes of gay parties and dances and their names were closely linked with the early activities of the town. The following is a list of these places, together with the names of the proprietors, and when possible, the location of the building, and an approximate date.
1839--The Wilcox House. It was located on the East side of Madison Street on the south bank of the west branch of the Rock River, not far from the bridge. George Wilcox gave the following description of it. "It was built of logs. There were no shingles but it was covered with shakes, split strips of wood, about three feet long, and six inches wide. They were fastened by long poles placed lengthwise of the roof. The barn was of logs. The roof was built of hollow logs, split, and first layer was laid split side up and the next was laid round side up."
1845: Ackerman Hotel. J. N. Ackerman. On West Main Street (Washington St.)
1845: Exchange Hotel. Built by Seymour Wilcox on Washington Street. According to Mr. Edwin Hillyer, Mr. Wilcox ran the Exchange on year and then sold it to Rowland Carrington. THe first sign of the old hotel was a wooden oval, well painted and read "THE OLD STAND." This sign was over Thurston Wilcox Carpenter Shop about fifty years later. The name was changed by the following proprietors. It was last known as the BEAUMONT and is now part of the Recreation Arcade. In 1858, A. Harger was the proprietor. A few years later, about 1863, August Spangel became proprietor.
1847: Dunlap Hotel, Rufus Dunlap proprietor. It was located on the corner of Fox Lake Road and Washington Street.
1848: The Boston House, built by Calvin Carrington and sometimes called the Carrington House. It was located on the present site of the Classic Theater, corner of Washington and Carrington streets. Mr. Carrington conducted a stage depot in connection with the hotel, and previous to the coming of the railroad in 1856, it was not unusual to see twenty or more stages leave there daily.