The Clarke Hotel is steeped in Waukesha history. The name commemorates a prominent family of the Waukesha Springs Era and a woman who was one of Waukesha’s most successful developers.

Elizabeth Clarke Carney was born in Ireland in 1815. Her family immigrated to the United States and arrived in Waukesha in 1846. Her father, William Clarke, operated a dry goods store on Main Street. In 1861, after his death, Elizabeth took over the operation of the store.

It was on her farm property that her brother-in-law, Col. Richard Dunbar, “discovered” Waukesha Springs Water in 1868. This began the Waukesha Springs Era, which brought international fame to the community as “The Saratoga of the West.”  Elizabeth was a partial owner of the Bethesda Spring and developed the J.E. ​ Bean home at Grand Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue into the Mansion House Hotel. ​

In 1874, Elizabeth built the Opera House, a two-story limestone building with retail shops on the first floor and a 600-seat opera house on the second floor. The Opera House included a full stage, orchestra pit, and private boxes. It became a major cultural attraction, competing with fine hotels built to accommodate tourists flocking to Waukesha for the waters. ​

Elizabeth died in 1895 and was considered the wealthiest woman in Waukesha. The four downtown buildings she owned at the time of her death—Alexander Block (site of the current first floor restaurant), Commercial Block (the family dry goods store), the Opera House, and the Kinzie Block—became known as the Clarke Block. These are the historic roots of The Clarke Hotel.

In 1916, the buildings known as The Clarke Block were purchased and given a facade that created the illusion of one building. In the 1930s, the opera house was converted into offices and apartments. The building was a prominent business centerpiece at Waukesha’s Five Points intersection from the late 19th – through the 20th Century.

The property then fell into disrepair and some people referred to it as a “flop house,” a rooming-house business built around a site that had fallen into disrepair by the turn of the century. In 2008, the building was purchased by Bethesda Development, LLC and redeveloped, with the help of TIF money, to be a hotel with street-level commercial space and The Black Trumpet restaurant. The restaurant closed in 2010 and D Mo’s Italian Pasta & Chop House took over, but closed in 2011, leaving the restaurant vacant until 2014.

Over the years, the tenants of The Clarke Block included Clarke Drug Store (part of the Walgreen’s company), the Army Surplus Store, and Cuddles, a store offering stuffed animals and greeting cards.

In 2014, Harp & Eagle Limited purchased the building from Community Bank & Trust, Sheboygan, who had acquired the property in 2013, in foreclosure after the previous investors defaulted on their loan, to operate as a 20 room hotel and The Five Points Irish Pub and Restaurant. In 2023, the building was sold to Clarke Hospitality and continues to operate as a 20 room boutique hotel with Travieso, a Latin Fusion restaurant, on the first floor.

Bethesda Spring 1880