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Before it was Moy’s, landmark was a busy hotel

Photo at left: Moy's Restaurant in Lake Geneva. More Mystery Place photos are GALLERY

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Moy’s Restaurant is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Wisconsin and Walworth streets in downtown Elkhorn.

Now the home of a popular Chinese restaurant, the property has a long history.

Levi Lee built the first hotel on this location in 1842. Occasionally, he would rent out his public house to others.

Lee built the first courthouse and was paid for the job in land, a good portion of it on Elkhorn’s west side. He built a house for himself in the early 1850s of yellow Elkhorn brick, and it still stands on West Walworth Street, complete with the original porch. It is one of the oldest houses in the city.

Lee left his mark in early Elkhorn. In addition to the early hotel, he helped build the first Methodist church around the site of the present- day Columbus Hall on south Broad Street. He helped build the first real courthouse in Elkhorn in 1842. These buildings and his home were built of brick, which he manufactured from clay from this area.

In fact, the presence of this clay allowed several brick yards to be located in Elkhorn.

Levi Lee came to Elkhorn in 1841. At the first town meeting of Elkhorn, on April 7, 1846, he served as moderator. He was a man of many talents: building, innkeeper, Methodist minister, justice of the peace and brick maker.

He is buried in the Hazel Ridge Cemetery.

In 1842, some records show that the hotel was run by a group of men with the last names Hogsboom, Farnesworth and Arnold.

In 1850, Lee sold the property to E.P. Eaton. In 1869, it was sold to John Snyder. In the early 1890s, it was sold to T. H. O’Brien, who had the hotel rebuilt by Morrissey Brothers Mason Contractors.

Morrissey Brothers were responsible for many of the early Elkhorn buildings. According to a recent article in a local newspaper, their business was associated with fine brick and stone work for 90 years; the firm disbanded in 1942.

In 1901 O’Brien sold the hotel to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Amos, who owned the building until 1920 when Edward Amos was killed by a train. The new owner was William O’Brien, the brother of the original owner.

William O’Brien had leased the hotel during part of his brother’s ownership and was owner of the Nickel Plate hotel at the time he took over Elkhorn House Hotel.

O’Brien and his son, George, ran it until April, 1929 when the sold it to Nick and Loraine Sklaventis, who renamed the building the Loraine Hotel.

Over the years, the building also has been known as Bob Long’s and Mandell’s. The hotel rooms became unusable after the mid-1960s.

Paul Moy bought the building in the early 1970s and has been operating his restaurant there ever since.

On Jan. 8, 2007, fire struck the building, forcing the restaurant to close for a time.

Repairs were made, and the restaurant reopened and is in operation today.