Elmbrook Historical Society

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A Brookfield Landmark

This stately Greek Revival Inn, at 1075 N. Pilgrim Parkway, once stood at the corner of Bluemound and Watertown Plank Roads. It was built in the 1840's by Talbot Dousman, whose brother, Hercules, later built the Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien. 

In 1857, Daniel Brown purchased the property and ran it as a stagecoach inn to accommodate travelers using the plank road that sliced through the wilderness from Milwaukee to Watertown. After 1875, railroads supplanted stagecoach travel and the inn became a farm owned by Frederick Zimdars. From 1887 to 1980, its owners were Charles Dunkel and his descendent, John Behling, who donated the inn to the historical society.

The building was moved by the EHS to its present location. EHS volunteers have restored and furnished the house with authentic antiques to the period when it was operated as an inn.

Step Back Into Another Era

Start your tour at the 1852 William Donaldson log/frame Visitor Center... Browse through the Museum Shop filled with collectibles of days gone by.

Walk through the rooms of the Stagecoach Inn furnished with Wisconsin artifacts... Share the experiences of the Browns and the weary travelers who stopped at the Inn during their long horse drawn journey between Milwaukee and Watertown.

...Stroll the grounds and see the 1852 Log House Visitor Center, the Smoke House, the Ice House, and the Wagon/Blacksmith Shop... Recall school days past with the original 1862 Woodside School Bell Tower.

Elmbrook Historical Society
P.O. Box 292
Brookfield, WI 53008-0292
262-782-4057

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