Contributor: Oliver and Frances Stelter Source: Family album

Captain William Plocker's Inn, ca. 1890

In 1848, having just been appointed first postmaster in Fairwater, Captain William Plocker constructed "a large structure with a porch running completely around it, and serving as a wayside tavern where travelers might find lodging" (Brandon Times, Mar. 7, 1935). Located just south of the village on the route of the stagecoach line running through Dodge County, Poy Sippi, and on to Wausau, it "was a two story building of the Gothic Revival style, which was popular in Wisconsin from about 1850 to 1880" (Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, Oct. 13, 1994).

The photograph pictures Gottlieb and Henrietta Stelter seated in front of the original building. On November 1, 1875, Plocker sold his inn and 325 acres of land attached to it to Gottlieb Stelter for $13,000.