| Additional Information: | This two-story commercial building is topped with a combination of flat and angled rooflines and it is largely sheathed with a stone veneer, while the second level is covered with cedar siding. Large expanses of windows dominate the Main Street elevation of the building on both the first and second levels. A large window well at the building’s northwest corner provides light to the lower level. Although the building was, in fact, built with a second level, an addition has since been added.
This banking facility was built between 1973 and 1974. The First National Bank of River Falls was organized with a capital of $25,000 on 4 January 1904 and was the third financial institution to establish itself in the City of River Falls. The first officers of the bank were F.H. Welcome (of Minneapolis, Minnesota), president; H.L. North, vice president; and P.M. Reagan, cashier. The following year, George T. Smith (See discussion for the West Side Brick Homes Historic District for additional information on Smith) was elected president and he held that position until retiring in 1927.
The institution’s first quarters were located at 105 N. Main Street, where it remained for seventy years. In 1914, First National Bank was among the first banks to join the Federal Reserve System, which had just established itself on 23 December 1913. Likewise, the bank in 1934 joined the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was established as part of the Federal Banking Act that was signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt on 16 June 1933. The First National Bank was just one of two banks in River Falls prior to the Depression and it was the only one to survive it.
Following Smith’s retirement in 1927, the bank president for the next two years was A.W. Lund, after which Smith’s grandson Jeff took over. Jeff remained president until his death in 1963, after which his son David led the institution until his death in 1994. During David’s tenure, the subject facility was completed in 1974. After clearing two homes and a gas station from the parcel, the bank was built with a three-lane drive-through, as well as an apartment on the second floor. When they moved in, the bank took up only a portion of the building. Since that time, they expanded into all areas, as well as have made an addition to the second level. The bank has two additional branches; one in Prescott and another on the UWRF campus. |
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| Bibliographic References: | "First National to Hold Open House Friday to Observe 50 Years of Service," history of bank, River Falls Journal, 2 December 1954, 1/2.
"First National Marks New Site," River Falls Journal, 12 April 1973, Section C, page 2.
"Sites Being Prepared for Two New Bank Buildings," RFJ, 28 June 1973, B-7.
"Cement Poured for New First National Bank," photos, RFJ, 28 June 1973, B-7.
1990 City of River Falls Survey (bank history); “Mission/History,” First National Bank of River Falls website, Available online at www.fnbrf.com/a_mission.htm, Accessed June 2015;
Photo of bank and caption, RFJ, 29 August 1974, C-8; “First National Bank in New Home,” RFJ, 26 September 1974, 1/5-7. |
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