History

The Commercial Hotel

Opened in 1884

• This building was the first establishment in Black Earth to have a telephone.
• The original hotel register survives and records names such as:
  • "Buffalo Bill" Cody and his troupe.
  • The four Ringling Brothers and their entire company.

Pfeil & Millonzi, LLC

Opened in 2004

Practicing law in the following areas:

• Agricultural Law
• Business Law
• Construction Law
• Contracts
• Elder Law
• Employment Law
• Estate Planning
• Municipal Law
• Real Estate and Land Use

History of Our Building

In 1880, Black Earth, Wisconsin was a thriving community. The town had a harness maker, shoemakers, a general machine shop, three blacksmiths, two planing mills, two physicians, a wagon maker, four saloons, three grain merchants, three stock buyers, a lumber dealer, a flour and grist mill and a cheese factory, as well as a butcher, jeweler, cooper, furniture maker, candy maker, barber, several dress and hat makers and a pharmacy. Several stagecoach routes came through Black Earth, as did the the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. The village had one hotel--the Valley Hotel--and George Seller, the local attorney and insurance agent, was its proprietor.

In 1884, 54-year-old Enoch Wood and his wife Elizabeth, both natives of England, opened Black Earth's second hotel. They named the new establishment the Commercial House and located it on the corner of Mills and Ray Streets, where the building still stands. Mr. Wood operated the Commercial House until his death in January 1903.

During the years Enoch and Elizabeth Wood were the proprietors of the Commercial House, numerous entertainment troupes and road shows stayed there. The guest register, which still exists today, includes such names and traveling shows as "Buffalo Bill" Cody; the four Ringling Brothers and their entire circus company; "Chance, Friz and Lyons, Minstrels;" the "Martins' Magical Theatre;" and "Mason and Morgan's 'Uncle Tom's' Cabin Co."'. The Commercial House is also known as the first establishment in Black Earth to have a telephone.

The building changed hands many time following the Wood's ownership. Randy and Shawn Page purchased the building in the mid-1990s and renovated the structure to its present day appearance, with business space on the first floor and an apartment on the second. The law office of Pfeil & Millonzi, LLC moved into the old Commercial House during the Spring of 2004.