812 Wrigley Dr, Lake Geneva, WI 53147
The Gary Gygax memorial in Lake Geneva commemorates the life of the Dungeons & Dragons creator. Gygax was born and raised in Lake Geneva. As a child, he would wander the empty halls of the abandoned Oakwood Sanitarium vanquishing imaginary monsters, forming the ideas that would eventually become the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop fantasy role-playing game.
Lake Geneva is not only the birthplace of D&D, it also served as the headquarters of TSR, the company that Gygax formed to publish the game. TSR operated out of Gygax’s basement at 330 Center St until they opened The Dungeon Hobby Shop.
The first Gen Con was held by Gygax in 1968 at the nearby Horticultural Hall.
Gygax died in 2008 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
A memorial brick around the Riviera Ballroom fountain on the shore of the lake is dedicated to Gygax, engraved with a dragon atop a d20 polyhedral die.
Lake Geneva, the birthplace of Dungeons & Dragons, will soon be home to The Griffin & Gargoyle, an elaborate D&D-theme restaurant and amusement center.
