COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – At its Monday night meeting, the Coldwater City Council will consider a resolution supporting the submission of an application for a Michigan Historical Marker which would be placed in front of the Coldwater Community Center at 11 E. Chicago St.
The application has already been prepared by Mark Putnam, whose family operated the Putnam Funeral Home from that location for over fifty years. He has offered to pay the $250 application fee and is asking that the City pay the $2,747 cost of the marker if the application is approved by the Michigan Historic Commission at its September 15th meeting.
The building was constructed in 1859 for Dr. John Henry Beech, a prominent physician, Civil War surgeon, educator, and former mayor. In 1870, he offered the front parlor of the house to the Ladies Library Association, and it served as the first location of the Coldwater Public Library.
The property was acquired in 1907 by Coldwater Daily Reporter owner/publisher Horace Kitchel.
In 1936, Frank and Lulu McConkey bought the building and established the McConkey Funeral Home on the first floor.
Kenneth and Eleanor Putnam purchased the property in 1946, which was operated as the Putnam Funeral Home through its 1998 sale to Keystone Michigan and its closure in 2017.
The City of Coldwater acquired the building in 2020, and a nonprofit group officially opened the Coldwater Community Center at the Beech House in 2024.
Comments