Waupaca County National Bank
122 S. Main Street, Waupaca, Wisconsin
Three-story Queen Anne style, red brick building, accented with limestone details
Photos
Overview Looking Northwest
The angle on the southeast quadrant of the building once housed the main entrance to the old bank. After the bank changed ownership, the main entrance was moved to the front façade and a window replaced the old door.
Today, the old bank lobby is a salon.
Photo taken by J.R. Manning in July 2016
Description
The Waupaca County National Bank is a three-story Queen Anne style building constructed of red brick and accented with many rusticated limestone details. The corner building has a raised entry pavilion at the southeast corner. Above the third story of the building there is a tall parapet cornice that is decorated with brick corbelling in a waffle pattern. The top of the entry pavilion rises through the parapet cornice. It has a steeply-pitched gable accented with limestone coping and round brick pilasters that rise from the second story of the entry pavilion. The pilasters are accented with rusticated limestone. At the center of the gable peak of the entry pavilion are three round-arched openings decorated with rusticated limestone round arches and sills. The openings are enclosed. A rusticated limestone belt course spans both the south and east elevations of the building under the parapet cornice.This building was erected for the Waupaca County National Bank in 1893, three years after the bank was formed. The bank occupied the first floor, and office suites were located on the second floor. The building was the most prominent professional address of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the second floor offices were filled with some of the city's most prominent physicians and professionals. On the third floor of the building, the Knights of Pythias created their fraternal lodge, "Castle Hall." In 1906, the bank changed its name to First National Bank, but after a financial crisis, the Old National Bank took over the First National Bank and remained at this location. This Old National Bank failed in 1933 during the bank holiday of the Great Depression. But, in 1934, the bank was successfully reorganized and the Federal Government allowed the new First National Bank to open in this location. This bank was a success and remained here until 1973, when it built a new building in a more open location, just east of this district. Since that time, this building has been used for offices.
Adapted from the National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form prepared for the Waupaca Historic Preservation Commission with the support of the City of Waupaca for submission to the National Park Service. Document prepared by Carol Lohry Cartwright, August 30, 2001. A link to the document is listed below in the "Sources" category.
Sources
- J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
- Application to the NRHP for the Main Street Historic Disctict - Includes a detailed description of the subject building on Page 9 of 53
This page's URL is http://landmarkhunter.com/204946-waupaca-county-national-bank/