The history of the house began
in 1847...

When Simeon F. Barnes of New York State migrated to the Town of Wauwatosa. By 1850, Simeon and his wife, Miranda, settled on a farm of approximately 80 acres located at what today would be the southeast corner of 124th Street and Hampton Avenue and subsequently built a home on the east side of 124th Street which is the core of the present Clarke House.

At the same time the Barnes were settling on their property...George and Mary Crane Clark left the area of Glasgow, Scotland and sailed to America with their three sons, Thomas, age 6, John, age 4, and George Lawrence, age 8 months. They traveled directly to Wisconsin and, by the end of 1850, purchased the land where the Clarke House stands today.

In October, 1870 the Barnes house and farm were purchased by the three Clark Brothers...Thomas, John and George - for approximately $3,500.00
 

Subsequently each of the three Clark boys chose to pursue careers other than farming. Perhaps it was at this time that they also added the "e" to the spelling of their last name. Thomas became a sales representative and John became a lawyer, later becoming a District Attorney in Milwaukee.

 

George stayed on the farm with his mother, Mary, until about 1890. By 1891, he and his mother were living in Milwaukee, and George was working as a deputy sheriff. Mary Crane Clarke died in July 1894.

 

George Clarke married Jennie Kelley on January 14, 1896.
They moved to the house on 124th Street where their first seven children were born, five of which survived infancy. They were Agnes, John, Francis, George and Jean.

 

The advent of the Railroad

During the fall of 1909 and early 1910...Two men from Milwaukee, Sparta and North Western Railway, a division of the Chicago & North Western Railway, visited farmers on the east side of 124th Street - farmers named Foley, Lieb, Van de Plasche, Clarke, Etzel, and Gross and offered to buy their farmland to establish railroad yards as an adjunct to an outer belt line around Milwaukee.

 

The "New Butler" railroad yards represented one of the most extensive and costly railway projects executed in the midwest for years.

 

The end result - the railroad town of "New" Butler.

 

When George and Jennie Clarke sold the west 45 acres of their farm to the Railroad for $18,000.00 they reserved the right to move their house off the land before March of 1910. The house was moved across the fields on rollers pulled by animal power to its present site on the family's ancestral farm. Following the move, the house was remodeled, and an east wing was added where the old summer kitchen originally stood. Their last child, Thomas, was born here in 1910.

 

In 1911 "New Butler" was established in Waukesha County immediately west of 124th Street. It was incorporated in May, 1913 with a population of 200.

 

In the summer of 1913... Railroad passenger service was introduced creating a new mode of transportation for village residents.

 

George Clarke died in 1934. Jennie continued to live in the house with her eldest son, John, until her death in 1960 at the age of 93. John remained in the house until his death in 1992, a few days before his 94th birthday.

 

In January, 1995... The majority of the Clarke family heirs donated the Historic Clarke House to the Village of Butler for preservation and restoration.

 

In June, 1995... The Butler Community Foundation, a non-profit, volunteer organization, was incorporated to...

• Restore and maintain the Historic Clarke House
• Develop and operate a railroad and local history museum.

 

The George L. Clarke House is listed on both the state and national registers of Historic Places.