Downtown Harbor Beach developed around the intersection of Huron Avenue and State Street, where businesses, public buildings, hotels, shops, banks, parades, street fairs, and farm trade shaped the community from the 1860s through the mid-20th century. At this crossroads and nearby blocks stood the J. Jenks and Co. General Store, built in 1882 and renamed the Mihlethaler Store in 1902; the Corner Drug Store, built by Dr. Taggart in 1883 on the southwest corner; the post office building on the northwest corner, built in 1908 and later becoming the Huron County Savings Bank building in 1926; and the Huron County Bank, built in 1882 on the east side of Huron Avenue and moved in 1917 to the west side of the post office building, after which its old building became part of the Mihlethaler Store. Other downtown businesses included the Lee and Lytle Barbershop, the McMann and Wallace Ford Garage, the John Coal photography shop, Dink Healy’s coffee shop, the Binkle Harness Shop, and the Ritchie Blacksmith Shop. The Carrington Boarding house, built in 1860, was renamed the Sand Beach House in 1876, then became the Dow House Hotel after Charles Dow purchased it in 1879, and it burned in 1955. Views of the area also show Village Square Park, men cleaning a downtown corner during a citywide house cleaning campaign, farmers bringing wheat to market, storefronts along State Street, and parades and a city street fair passing through the downtown streets.