The Central House Hotel is an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

hotel located in

Boscobel, Wisconsin Boscobel ( ) is a city in Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,286 at the 2020 census. Approximately 0.6 mi. (1 km) to the north of the city, across a riparian swamp, is the Wisconsin River. U.S. Route 61 cross ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1996.

History

The hotel was built by Adam Bobel, a

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n immigrant who had served with the

20th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 20th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 20th Wisconsin was organized at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service August 23, 18 ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. After a fire in 1881, the building was largely re-built. In 1898, the hotel was overly crowded due to a lumberman's convention. Two salesmen, John H. Nicholson of

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 65,615, making it the List of cities in Wisconsin, tenth-most populous city in Wis ...

and Samuel E. Hill of

Beloit, Wisconsin Beloit ( ) is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. Beloit is a principal city of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Janesville–Beloit metropolitan statistical area (Rock Co ...

, were sharing a room since no single rooms were available. During their stay, the men began to talk about their

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith. They would discuss the need for an organization that would provide mutual help and recognition for Christian travelers. In 1899, the two men, along with William J. Knights of Janesville, met again and founded

Gideons International Gideons International is an evangelical Christian association for men founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin, whose primary activity is distributing free copies of the Bible worldwide. It distributes complete Bibles or portions thereof in over ...

. Though the first official meeting took place in Janesville, the organization has always identified the Central House Hotel in Boscobel as the place of its founding.

References

{{reflist Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Grant County, Wisconsin Italianate architecture in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Grant County, Wisconsin