Elizabeth Plankinton House

The Elizabeth Plankinton House is a three-story stone residence in Milwaukee featuring a distinctive conical turret and stone porch as its main architectural features. The intricate architectural details throughout were crafted using locally sourced Milwaukee materials.

John Plankinton, a prosperous meat-packing industrialist, built this house between 1886 and 1888 as a wedding gift for his daughter Elizabeth. The construction represented a significant investment in residential architecture during that era in Milwaukee.

The building served as headquarters for the Knights of Columbus from 1910 to 1978, a Catholic fraternal organization that operated its main offices here and added facilities including an auditorium and gymnasium.

The property is located in Milwaukee and remains an important part of the city's historic architectural landscape. Visitors exploring the neighborhood will find it helpful to look around the surrounding area, which contains other notable buildings from the same period.

Elizabeth Plankinton never moved into the house after her fiancé left her before their planned wedding, leaving the property to sit empty for years. This surprising turn of events for such an expensive home gives it an unexpected human story from the 19th century.

GPS coordinates: 42.98724,-88.23259

Latest update: December 12, 2025 17:41