Maplewood

The story of the Maplewood began in 1848 when John & William Sherwood came from New York and purchased two large land grants. John went into business, but William built a fine farmhouse on the site that would ultimately become the Maplewood Hotel location. William built a fine farm where his only daughter, Hattie Sherwood, would be born. William was a staunch supporter of the Dartford Methodist Church, and that is where Hattie met Mr. Victor Kutchin. They were married in 1876 when Mr. Kutchin was a Baptist minister in Waupun and the chaplain of the State Penitentiary. When the church was closed, Mr. Kutchin studied medicine in Chicago and became a doctor. Dr. Kutchin was the prison physician in Waupun for 10 years before he moved his growing family to the Sherwood Family farm in Green Lake.

In 1890 Dr. Kutchin built a fine home on the Sherwood property, and in 1891 he built an addition to his house with plans to operate a sanitarium.  He found that more healthy vacationers needed rooms, so he converted the facility to the Maplewood Hotel.  The Maplewood soon became known as an inn and a mecca for fishermen who only had to walk 200 feet to drop a line in the cool, clear water of Green Lake. Many people came daily to enjoy lunch or breakfast and the spacious rooms. At that time most of the food for the hotel was provided by the farms on the grounds.

In 1914, after a long illness that left Dr, Kutchin a partial invalid, operation of the hotel was turned over to his son, Victor Sherwood, and his wife. Dr. Kutchin stayed on as a general host of the hotel.

 In the 1920’s a large modernization was made to the hotel that added private bathrooms, a water system and updated the kitchens.

In 1955 Mr. & Mrs. V. Sherwood discontinued serving meals at the hotel but continued to a small number of guests through the summer of 1956. They closed the hotel in September 1956. The hotel building was razed in 1958.

Heritage History of Green Lake p129-133

The images below are arranged in chronological order.