This downtown building at 107 West Main Street is one of the oldest surviving structures within the West Branch Commercial District. The abstract of title for the property shows the Quaker Springdale Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, which at one time owned all the property along the north side of the 100 block of West Main Street, sold the 20-by- 103-foot lot to Lavina Patterson in February of 1890. By mid-March, a building that housed her millinery shop was in place, with rooms above to house her family.

Mrs. Patterson continued to operate her hat shop in the building until late summer, 1895. On August 30, 1895, a fire destroyed or heavily damaged a row of commercial buildings just across Main Street from her shop. Among those uprooted by the fire was Dr. L.J. Leech, who reported $500 damage to his doctor's office and $1,000 damage to the equipment inside. Suddenly in need of a new office, Dr. Leech bought Mrs. Patterson's building. The West Branch Times reported on October 3, 1895, that Mrs. Patterson had "moved her stock of millinery to the rooms first door east of Cochran's Book Store and invites the patronage of her old customers and others in need of millinery."

The building remained Dr. Leech's office until his death on September 22, 1937, at age 91. At age 16, he had enlisted at Davenport, Iowa, in Company B of the Second Iowa Cavalry. During the Civil War he participated in battles in Tennessee and Alabama. After being mustered out of the Union Army in the fall of 1865, L.J. Leech farmed briefly before enrolling in medical school at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City. He received his medical degree in 1882 and located his practice in West Branch. Over the years, Dr. Leech served as mayor, town councilman and a member of the school board. He was elected to the 29th, 30th and 31st Iowa General Assemblies.