Built in 1863, the Eli P. May House is a landmark in the town of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Young Eli May came to the area in 1839 when his father Chester, a contractor who had worked on the Erie Canal in New York, came to Wisconsin to work on a proposed canal connecting Lake Michigan to the Rock River. Unfortunately, financial issues caused the venture to fail. 

 

Chester sought his fortune elsewhere, heading north to Dodge County, where he built a mill and was so successful that the community was later named Mayville in his honor. But now-grown Eli chose to stay in Fort Atkinson, where he found his own success in several mercantile ventures. As a tribute to his endeavors, Eli built this striking Italianate home, featuring decorative brackets and the renowned Cream City brick. The house’s location is on the approximate site of the original Fort Koshkonong (later named Fort Atkinson), and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. 

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Sources: The Hoard Historical Museum and wikipedia.com