PHOTO OF THE DAY: OLD BANK SHOT

This photo was posted by Heritage Hall Museum & Archives on its Facebook page Monday, June 3 as part of its weekly look back. It shows Merchants State Bank as it looked in the later decades of the 20th century, before a major renovation/addition changed its appearance to what it is today. Here’s is the museum’s description that accompanied the photo.

This was Merchants State Bank on Freeman’s Main Street in 1990. The bank was founded in 1899 in the building now home to Libby at Flawless Nail & Hair Salon. In 1913, a new two-story bank building was built a block south (in the space immediately north of this photo; the south side of that building is visible in the photo) in 1913.

In 1979, this building was erected immediately south of that structure; the former Ben Franklin Store was razed to make room for the new bank. In 1999, the centennial year for the bank, a major addition project – which included the demolition of the 1913 bank – added a new entrance and lobby, office and meeting room space to the north. The 1979 building continues to be used as part of the expanded bank today.

These retrospectives are a way to mark time in our community. That’s what our museum strives to do with our exhibits and our programs. We invite you to visit; we’re open from 10 to 4 Mondays through Saturdays.