French-Canadian fur trader Joseph Roi built the cottage on the Fox River sometime between 1776[3] and 1803.[4] He used the pièce-sur-pièce à coulisse technique common in French-Canadian buildings of the time. In 1805, Roi sold the cottage to Jacques Porlier, an ally of the British. During the War of 1812, the building served as a local headquarters for the British. After the war, Porlier swore allegiance to the United States and in 1820 became chief justice of the Brown County court of the Michigan Territory.[2]
In 1850, Norwegian Moravian missionary Nils Otto Tank purchased the cottage and large tract of land along the Fox River. His wife, Caroline van der Meulin, covered the pièce-sur-pièce à coulisse work with clapboard and lived there until her death in 1891. In 1908, the cottage was in danger of demolition as the city became more industrial, so it was moved from its original location on 8th Street along the river to Tank Park.[2]
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and in 1976 moved to its current location in Heritage Hill State Historical Park to serve as a museum.[5]
