Levi Beck, known as Yorkton's Merchant Prince, now lies in the Yorkton cemetery, which was once the northeast corner of his Beck Hill Farm.

He made a million dollars in his various businesses, but during the dirty thirties lost it all. Yet this most enterprising citizen of Yorkton never lost faith in Saskatchewan.

Levi Beck was born at Salem, Ontario in 1860.In 1883 he moved to Portage La Prairie. A year later he drove across the country with oxen to Yorkton where he established a boarding house.

He started a flour and feed store, extended into the grocery trade in 1896, then opened a general store, then a lumber yard, a meat market, a harness and shoe repair shop, a fruit store, an implement business and bakery.

He expanded his operations with a stores in Willowbrook and Sheho. He had grain elevators in Yorkton and Otthon. He was in the fuel business and had 15 teams drawing wood from the Beaver Hills.

He traded in furs, dealt in real estate with an office at the corner of Fourth and Broadway, raised cattle and hogs and bought livestock for both retail and export trade. He became a member of the Winnipeg Grain Exchange.

Levi Beck was mayor of the city 1911 and 1912.

As his enterprises grew he grew the wheat, threshed it, milled it, baked the bread and delivered the bread.

He owned 20 sections of land. He owned every quarter section of land on the west side of what is now Highway 9 from Broadway to York Lake, four miles south of Yorkton. It is said some joker sold Mr. Beck one of his own farms as a prank.

The area now consisting of King Street to Logan Crescent was known as the Beck Hill farm.

With the coming of the motor age, he entered the automobile trade, which many say lead to his downfall. He sold cars on a no-money-down plan, and pay-as-you-wish system.

A Winnipeg syndicate offered him $500,000 for his enterprises. Within the next few years the depression struck, wiping out most of his holdings.

When the crash came a mortgage firm, it is said, offered him his choice of any section of land fully equipped and a free trip to California each year for him and his wife as long as he lived, providing he turned over all his properties. The company felt it was cheaper to do this rather than pay all foreclosure charges. Mr. Beck refused the offer.

Mr. Beck was a modest man and never bragged about his wealth. When asked what his businesss was, his stock answer was, "Oh, I do a bit of trucking."

He died in March of 1936, and is buried in the Yorkton cemetery which was once the northeast corner of Hill Farm.

One of the former landmarks in Yorkton was his palatial home, built in 1901 where the fire hall now stands. After a trip to California Mr. Beck built an extension which included a tower.

The front was framed with a two storey pillared veranda. The spacious grounds had a private driveway and stables. After the death of Mr. Beck the years took their toll of the house. The once-beautiful home became an eyesore and was taken over by the city, demolished, and the fire hall built on the property.