Born in Canandaigua, New York, William Goodwin (1812–1896) immigrated to this farming community on the Kalamazoo River in 1845. Here he operated a mill and mercantile business. He served several terms in the state legislature and senate. Distinguished Jackson County builders built this diminutive wooden Greek Revival house for Goodwin and his first wife, Mary Granger, on the south bank of the river near his mill. The hipped roof of the single-story, cube-shaped house is topped with a square cupola that contains a single room with windows on all four sides. The main entrance to the house is recessed behind the flush-boarded front wall and is surrounded with side and transom lights. It is sheltered by a porch that runs across the front and that is supported by square Doric piers. Only a handful of small Greek Revival houses with a room at the top were built in south-central Michigan. They are distinctive to the region. Another is the Alfred and Ruth Eames Paddock House (1843) at 317 Hanover Street.