Welcome to Milton!

Soldiers who served in Wisconsin Territory during 1832's Black Hawk War returned to their homes in the east with glowing descriptions of this area's beautiful prairies, burr oak openings and swift sparkling streams. The Milton area was known then as Prairie du Lac (Prairie of the Lakes), but the description these men brought back called it "a veritable modern Eden."

By the end of the decade, settlement had begun here. When Prairie du Lac applied for a post office in 1839, the territorial governor rejected the name as being too similar to the already established community of Prairie du Sac. At a meeting held to decide on a name, one settler remarked that when he left his home in the east, he thought of it as "Paradise Lost," but when he saw where Milton now stands, he called it "Paradise Regained." So the town was named for the author of "Paradise Lost," the poet John Milton.

Joseph Goodrich founded Milton and built the first frame house here. But his legacy is his 1844 hexagonal stagecoach inn, the Milton House, the first poured grout building in the United States. Today, it is a National Historic Landmark, the oldest concrete building still standing in the U.S., and one of 14 recognized stations on the Underground Railroad. Goodrich was a staunch abolitionist, and the inn has a tunnel beneath it that provided a hiding place for runaway slaves. Today, the Milton House is a museum, with tours conducted by the Milton Historical Society.