Wisconsin’s first Black-owned resort community, Lake Ivanhoe, gets historic recognition

By Rory Linnane, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After nearly two decades of advocating for historic recognition of his hometown, Peter Baker on Saturday unveiled a marker from the Wisconsin Historical Society recognizing Lake Ivanhoe as the state’s first Black-founded resort community, established in 1926.

While the population has shifted over the years, residents past and present reunited Saturday at the Lake Ivanhoe Clubhouse to share memories and thank Baker for fighting to remember their community. Baker hasn’t left. 

“When I stepped foot on Lake Ivanhoe I knew I was home, and I don’t have any intentions of leaving this community; it’s something that’s in my heart,” Baker said. 

Baker, inspired in the early 2000s when he read the 1972 master’s thesis about Lake Ivanhoe by University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student Samuel Gonzalez, has been giving presentations for years about the history. 

He helped untie a red ribbon Saturday to reveal the sign that he helped write in collaboration with the historical society. 

It is the Wisconsin Historical Society’s eighth marker focused on Black history, out of over 600 in the state. 

See the new marker.

Unfortunately, Wisconsin also has confederate monuments.

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