The sign at the edge of the district reads:
"The Maple Park Historic District was platted as the first residential district in the original village of Geneva in 1837. It includes the first Town Square (Maple Park) and Pioneer Cemetery. It also contains many of the earliest residences, dating from the 1840's & illustrating Italianate, Greek & Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, & Craftsman styles of architecture."
From the Geneva Lake Association Newsletter Fall 2006 (
visit link) :
"Mary Tanner, local resident, historian, antique dealer, a
good friend of the writer, and the owner of her own historic
home on Main Street in Lake Geneva, has written a brief
history of what is Maple Park. This writer is paraphrasing
Mary’s remarks here:
“The earliest houses in the Maple Park District date to the
mid-1840s and 1850s. The bulk of the District was developed
between 1870 and 1920. The last two decades of the 19th
Century and the first decade of the 20th Century saw most
development in the District.
“Maple Park and Pioneer Cemetery, located in the middle of
Maple Park, were established in the original Plat of Lake
Geneva (1837) that Thomas McKay drew for several early
pioneers of the community and recorded with the County in
1840.
“A Town Square soon became a part of many town plats in
Wisconsin in theMid-Nineteenth Century.This was a tradition
in town planning started by William Penn in a 1683 plat for
Philadelphia. The idea for a Town Square was also based on
town planning for England.
“The Greek Revival Style came after the log house.This was
followed by the Italianate Style, then next the Gothic Revival
Style, the Queen Anne Style, the Empire Style, Stick Style,
East Lake Style, Georgian Style,Tudor Style, Craftsman Style,
the Bungalow Style, the Dutch Colonial, and in 1950, the
Ranch Style."