In January 1893, the Beckwith and Lee families opened and dedicated the Beckwith Memorial Building on this site in honor of Philo D. Beckwith (1825-1889). P.D. Beckwith moved to Dowagiac in 1854 and became one of the city's most important residents. His Round Oak Stove Company brought the Industrial Revolution to Dowagiac, he served as mayor and on city boards, and he led many philanthropic activities that improved the city. Built in the Romanesque style with arched entryways and a façade of Lake Superior Red Sandstone, the Beckwith Memorial Building was an architectural wonder for the small city. To honor Beckwith's reputation as a Free Thinker, the structure included busts of noted composers, philosophers, authors, and orators, including Beethoven, Voltaire, Shakespeare, and Robert Ingersoll. Unusual for the nineteenth century, the busts above the arches also depicted women, including author George Sands, actress Sarah Bernhardt, and suffragette Susan B. Anthony. Although it housed retail and office space, the building's primary feature was the Beckwith Theater, which brought national theater groups and later vaudeville and movies to Dowagiac. The building later housed the Dowagiac Police, the Wigwam Restaurant, and the headquarters for Wolverine Mutual Insurance Company. By the mid-1960s, it was in declining condition and was razed in 1966. Remnants were salvaged and preserved, and many items are displayed at the Dowagiac Area History Museum.