Mathais Bailey was a commercial fisherman who moved his family from Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, in 1870, seeking more abundant fishing on the west side of Green Bay. In 1893 his son Charles bought 123 acres of land and built this house for his wife, Aurora. Charles operated one of the area's largest fisheries on this site from 1893 to 1950. His daughter E. Leone Bailey, who died in 1994, willed the house, the fishery and 100 acres of land to the county for use as a museum and natural area.