| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
PORCH RAIL RECENT ADDITION.
ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS THE BEBEE HOUSE, THE EXCHANGE HOTEL WAS ERECTED IN 1838 BY HIRAM BEBEE WHO CAME TO GRATIOT IN THAT SAME YEAR AND PURCHASED THE FIRST ACRE OF LAND IN THE VILLAGE. THE BEBEE HOUSE WAS 20 FT. BY 22 FT. AND ITS OWNER, "A GREAT HUNTER AND STORY-TELLER, AND AN ECCENTRIC CHARACTER." (A) BY 1881 THE HOSTELRY, WHICH HAD SINCE BEEN ENLARGED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, WAS KNOWN AS THE EXCHANGE HOTEL AND VIED WITH THE ROLOF HOUSE FOR THE VILLAGE'S LODGING TRADE. IT WAS DESCRIBED IN THE 1881 COUNTY HISTORY AS THE "SUCCESSOR TO THE OLD BEBEE HOUSE, BEING A PART OF THE SAME, AND OCCUPYING THE ORIGINAL SITE, ... CONDUCTED BY H.N. BRAGG." (B) H. NATHANIEL BRAGG, BORN IN NEARBY SHULLSBURG, HAD PREVIOUSLY ENGAGED IN FARMING AND WORKED IN A HOTEL, STORE, AND SALOON. UNDER HIS BIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION THE EXCHANGE HOTEL WAS NOTED AS STANDING UPON THE "BANK OF WOLF CREEK, WITH A FINE COMMANDING VIEW, AND WITHIN A FEW MOMENTS' WALK OF THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILROAD DEPOT." (C)
CONSTRUCTED IN 1838, THE EXCHANGE HOTEL IN GRATIOT IS A SIGNIFICANT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE VILLAGE'S COMMERCIAL HISTORY. THE LAFAYETTE COUNTY COMMUNITY WAS FIRST LAID OUT IN 1838, ITS COMMERCIAL SECTOR EXPANDING ALONG MAIN STREET WHERE BUSINESSES FLOURISHED WITH THE MILLING INDUSTRY AND THE ARRIVAL (IN 1856) OF THE RAILROAD. ONE OF THE FIRST COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES IN GRATIOT AND THE ONLY EARLY EXAMPLE THAT REMAINS, THE EXCHANGE CONTINUES TO REFLECT THIS DEVELOPMENT AND, BECAUSE OF ITS RECENT RENOVATION, TO ENHANCE THE COMMUNITY'S BUSINESS DISTRICT. As of 2011, the building has been extensively renovated with new siding, a new roof and roofline, and eave brackets. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. "HISTORY OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY, WISCONSIN," (CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL CO., 1881), P. 593.
B. IBID., P. 597.
C. IBID., P. 759.
D. 1916 LAFAYETTE COUNTY ATLAS.
E. MARTHA RILEY, "A SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY," (M.A. THESIS, MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY, 1934), PP. 71-72.
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