William Conner - William Conner's House

William Conner's House

In 1823, Conner built a two-story Federal style brick house on the terrace edge of the West Fork of the White River, about four miles (6 km) south of Noblesville, Indiana, in Hamilton County. The house is believed to be one of the first brick buildings built in central Indiana. Seven of William and Elizabeth Conner's ten children were born in the home. One of his sons was Alexander H. Conner who was a lawyer and politician. Conner's house was used as the meeting place for the County Commissioners, Circuit Court, and served as a post office in the early days of Hamilton County. Although Conner lived in the house until only 1837, his sons and their families are believed to have continued to reside in the house until 1874. In the 1860s, Conner's Delaware children unsuccessfully attempted to gain title to the land.

In 1934, Indianapolis pharmaceutical executive Eli Lilly purchased the Conner house and farm and immediately began to stabilize and restore the house. Lilly hired Robert Frost Daggett, a prominent local architect who had designed Lilly's home just a few years earlier, to oversee the structural work as well as build other homes and outbuildings on the property during the time Lilly operated the property as a farm. He later donated the house and property, which is now known as the Conner Prairie Interactive History Park.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and can now be visited at Conner Prairie.