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In 1892 in memory of P.D. Beckwith, his daughter Kate and son-in-law, Free Lee built the Beckwith Memorial Theatre in Dowagiac on the southeast corner of Front and Beeson Street. The theatre regarded as one of the finest between New York and Chicago played host to well-known names as William S. Hart, Roland Reed, Robert Mantell, and Otis Skinner. The building also contained space used for a bank, city hall, and Round Oak Company offices. The busts, which decorated the building exterior, included Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Emerson, Whitman, Shakespeare, Sarah Bernhardt, and Susan B. Anthony. When the building was razed in 1966 the busts were salvaged and eight are being used in columns standing at the entrance to the Lyons building at Southwestern Michigan College.