W. S. “Dad” Lively, a McMinnville native, began his photographic career in 1875. His studio was located on the 2nd floor in the Lively Building on Main Street. In 1904, he opened the Southern School of Photography here, and it closed in 1928. It was one of the first of its kind in the U.S. His fame for constructing a large camera that produced 30” x 60” glass negatives led to his photographs being placed in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.