This old bank is now part of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum

Burr Oak Savings Bank, Burr Oak Iowa

Date added: December 09, 2023 Categories: Iowa Bank

Looking northeast, bank front and south side (2000)

The Burr Oak Savings Bank was built in 1910 was during a boom period for agricultural production and land values in Iowa that saw hundreds of similar small savings banks constructed throughout the state. It is a one-part commercial block form, one of the most common forms of commercial architecture used along America's Main Streets during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. It is the only building to survive along Burr Oak's main street from this boom period. Its modest size, simple ornamentation, and siting remain intact.

Burr Oak was established in 1855 on the banks of Silver Creek in the eastern half of Burr Oak Township. Located about 12 miles north of Decorah and about 3 miles south of the Minnesota state line, Burr Oak was named for the grove of bur oak trees surrounding the township school north of Silver Creek. Early settlers operated mills, harvested timber from nearby stands of hardwoods, and extracted blue limestone from two nearby quarries. Merchants soon established a general store, a hotel, and several other businesses along the north-south route of State Street (236^th Avenue, today). Churches were constructed to house three Protestant congregations, and dozens of homes were eventually built along a series of rolling gentle hills. By the time the Burr Oak Savings Bank was constructed, the village had grown to include two general stores, a farm implement dealer, a butcher shop, a feed mill, a novelty store, a barbershop, a blacksmith, a hotel, a pool hall, and creamery.

According to the federal census, the township population grew from 591 in 1860 to 960 ten years later. This appears to have been a peak with subsequent census records showing a decline to 826 in 1880 and 731 in 1890. By the turn of the 20^th Century, population was again on the increase in the township with 825 counted in the 1900 census. Population figures fluctuate in subsequent census counts; 661 in 1910, 700 in 1920, 665 in 1930, and 684 in 1940. Population figures for the village of Burr Oak are more difficult to identify but likely reflect the overall growth and decline of the township as a whole during this time period. In 1880 records indicate a population of 199. Today, Burr Oak numbers between 150 and 200.

The formation of a savings bank in Burr Oak was first written about in local newspapers in April 1910. The stockholders described as "principally the people of Burr Oak and neighboring farmers" voted to incorporate under the name of the "Burr Oak Savings Bank." State law required that a minimum of $10,000 capital stock be subscribed. This was done within a short time with most stockholders holding only one share at $100 par value so that the stock was well distributed. On April 12th, 1910, the stockholders met and elected a board of seven directors to direct its operation. Dr. W.H. Emmons was elected president; J.A. Thompson, vice-president; J.E. Briggs, secretary and T.E. Roberts, treasurer. Members of the first board of directors were involved in other local businesses as well. For example, Dr. Emmons who served the community as a physician also handled drugs and was associated with two other thriving Burr Oak establishments at the time; the Burr Oak Mercantile Co. and the Silver Creek Creamery. Thompson was a partner in Thompson & Kippe's general store and Briggs had a local business as well. Other board members were prominent farmers in the township.

The first task facing the bank's board was to erect a building. The lot selected consisted of a closed section of Lansing Street that was vacated to provide a site for the bank building. Newspaper accounts indicate that before the construction of the building, Emmons and Thompson visited the town of Randalia located in central Fayette County approximately 50 miles south of Burr Oak to view their bank. Still standing today, this 1-story brick bank is substantially larger than the Burr Oak Savings Bank and was built on a corner site. Plans were assembled for bid letting within four weeks of the bank's incorporation. This extremely short time leads to speculation that the bank plans may have been acquired from a firm such as the Lytle Company of Sioux City which specialized in banks in Iowa or A. Moorman & Co. of St. Paul which did the same in Minnesota. Archival research regarding these two companies has failed to identify the Burr Oak Savings Bank as either company's design, however.

The contract for the construction of the bank was awarded shortly after bids were let on May 16th, 1910, to contractors McGee and Riceland of Harmony, Minnesota. By mid-June, the Decorah Public Opinion reported that the masons had arrived from Canton, Minnesota to lay the walls for the bank. Meanwhile, the organization of the bank itself continued. F.E. Cratsenberg, a former County Surveyor, was elected cashier and the articles of incorporation were approved by the board and submitted to the Auditor of the State for review. By the end of August 1910, the bank was completed, but its planned September 1^st opening was delayed because the safe had not yet arrived. Finally, on October 3^rd the bank received state authorization to conduct business and opened for business a few days later on October 6th. By the time the bank published its first statement of condition on November 10th, 1910, less than five weeks later, deposits exceeded $11,000. Two months later at its first annual meeting in January 1911, the bank reported nearly $30,000 in deposits and $23,000 in loans.

In August 1912 Cratsenberg returned to Decorah to take the position of assistant cashier with the Citizens Savings Bank though he continued an ownership position in the Burr Oak Savings Bank. He was replaced a short time later by Einar Kippe. At the time he took over as bank cashier, Kippe was co-owner of a general store in Burr Oak along with John A. Thompson, vice-president of the bank. Kippe continued in this capacity until 1920 when M.O. Sattre became cashier.

Membership on the board of directors changed infrequently during the bank's first twenty years with several members serving multi-year terms as officers. Dr. Emmons continued as president in 1917, by which time the bank had assets of $53,000. Two years later the bank continued in good standing with Ray Algyer as president. Bank assets exceeded $110,000 in 1919, the same year the shareholders sold the bank to the Winneshiek County State Bank. The bank continued to operate under its former name but under the umbrella of the much larger state bank headquartered in Decorah. Local bank operations continued largely unaffected and by 1925, Burr Oak was hailed as the smallest town in Winneshiek County with a bank. The impact on the bank of the agricultural recession in Iowa during the decade of the 1920s is unknown.

The most sensational event in the history of the Burr Oak Savings Bank occurred on April 22^nd, 1931. Two young men from Minnesota entered the bank that afternoon and robbed it escaping with $1,000 in cash. A short time later, one of the bandits wrote a letter to his girlfriend back in Wisconsin admitting to involvement in the robbery and promising to return. The letter made its way to the Winneshiek County sheriff and the two robbers were identified and returned to stand trial. Before the trial, however, both admitted their guilt and were given life sentences. The search, apprehension, and conviction of the two robbers all took place in just two weeks and were described in local newspaper accounts as "one of the quickest apprehensions on record for bank robbery in the state of Iowa." The newspaper also reported that the Burr Oak Savings Bank hold-up was the first such robbery to occur in Winneshiek County.

In January 1932, the Burr Oak Savings Bank and its parent bank, the Winneshiek County State Bank, went into receivership and closed operations in Burr Oak. L.A. Andrew, Superintendent of Banking for the State of Iowa, was appointed receiver with R.W. Kaster eventually taking over that role. Newspaper accounts celebrated the receipt of dividend payments for depositors as an indication that the local economy was recovering despite dismal agricultural prices. In July 1933 a 10 percent dividend totaling $11,500 was paid to Burr Oak Savings Bank depositors. For the next seven years, bank depositors continued to receive dividends on certificates and passbook accounts. The final dividend was paid on May 30th, 1940.

The story of the Burr Oak Savings Bank is similar to those of hundreds of other small savings banks established in Iowa in the decades before and after the turn of the 20^th Century. In describing the history of banking in Iowa, Howard Preston identifies the stock savings bank structure used in the organization of the Burr Oak Savings Bank as one of the most popular types of banks. He notes that "of the 1,185 stock sayings banks in the United States reporting in 1917 to the Comptroller of the Currency, 892 were in Iowa." The popularity of stock savings banks was a result of their capacity to transact nearly all types of banking business and the need in smaller communities; those with populations of 10,000 or less; to have only $10,000 of capital stock. Preston notes that Iowa led the nation in the number of banks in 1909 with 1,365. Of these 572 fell into the category of savings banks, of which 61% had capital of less than $25,000. Most would have been unable to organize under the higher thresholds set for state and national banks at the time.

Iowa historian Leland Sage described the economic backdrop at the turn of the 20^th Century in the state as the "Golden Age of Agriculture," a period of growing prosperity extending from 1897 through 1920 when the total number of banks doubled from 1,014 in 1897 to 1,923 in 1920.

Building Description

The Burr Oak Savings Bank is located on Lot 6 of Block 9 of the Original Village of Burr Oak in Burr Oak Township approximately two miles south of the Iowa-Minnesota border. The building is located at a T-intersection with the front facing west The gently sloping lot has a 46' width and an 80' depth with slight rise towards the rear. An embankment extends along the south side of the property from the front sidewalk to the rear of the property line. A narrow concrete sidewalk extends along the south facade and a wider walk along the front or west facade. A line of oak trees located along the top of the embankment extends to the rear of the property. The 100' high trees overarch the building, their height accentuating the bank's diminished size.

236^th Avenue (originally State Street) is the primary route through Burr Oak from north to south. It is a narrow asphalt paved road with no curb or gutter. A church is sited on a rise to the southeast of the former bank building and a vacant lot is located to the north. The Burr Oak business district consists of only a handful of buildings including a restaurant, tavern, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, which is located in a former hotel occupied by the Ingalls family during their residence in Burr Oak. U.S. Highway 52 connecting St. Paul, MN, and Dubuque, IA extends along the western edge of Burr Oak.

This 1-story, freestanding tile and brick commercial building was built in 1910 according to reliable local newspaper accounts that record its construction progress. The original building measured 32' by 20' and an addition measuring 12' by 20' was built at the rear of the building sometime before 1931. The only fire insurance map for Burr Oak prepared in that year shows the rear addition in place.

This bank building is an example of the one-part commercial block form with Italianate Style ornamentation. This common form of vernacular commercial architecture dated from the last decades of the 19^th Century through World War I. Though buildings such as this often appeared in a series of contiguous buildings rather than as a freestanding building, bank buildings such as this one were frequent exceptions. This brick-front example has an ashlar concrete block foundation on rubble limestone footings, tile walls faced in reddish brick, and limestone sills and lintels for the window and door openings. The front facade is organized with a single large display window on the left and the entrance off-center to the right. The front entrance originally had a transom located above the door, which had horizontal wood panels in the lower half, and a glass light in the upper section. This door is in poor condition but stored in the building. The display window was removed at an unknown date and replaced with three 1/1 fixed sash.

The upper portion of the front facade has a recessed horizontal brick panel above the front window and entrance. The upper edge of the panel has corbeled brickwork in a dentil-like pattern. The cornice for the building is fabricated of pressed tin and features brackets separating pairs of arched moldings with embossed designs in the end pieces topped by finials. The overall effect of the brickwork and cornice is Italianate in style making the bank somewhat of an architectural anomaly, a late example of a 19^th century style. One of the finials is missing the metal ball but the balance of the cornice is intact. Elements missing from the front facade that appear in an early photo include a crank-style awning with the name of the bank printed along its scalloped edge and a flag pole centered above the cornice. The front window originally had the name of the bank painted on it.

The side walls have a stepped parapet that follows the building's roof slope. The south facade has three 1/1 double-hung windows and an entrance without a transom. The original door has been replaced with a door containing nine lights in the upper half and a panel below. An exposed concrete block chimney has been added along the south facade immediately left of the entrance and extends approximately 7' above the edge of the parapet. The north facade has only one window and it matches the configuration of those on the south.

The rear addition is constructed of tile with a brick facing. The rear entrance had a flat arch and the two window openings had segmental arches. The windows matched the 1/1 configurations of those in the front and the door appears to have been a 5-panel (horizontal) wood door.

The interior of the building is in extremely poor condition with collapsing ceiling sections, missing floor sections, deteriorating plaster, and missing doors. The original plan included a large banking room at the front with a lobby and an ell-shaped teller line (missing) along the north side. The cashier's office was likely contained within this room as well. The vault is located midway along the north wall of the building and includes two entrances. One entrance into the front room would have allowed access from the rear of the teller line for storage of cash and coinage. The other entrance was for accessing the safety deposit boxes and was located in the room located to the rear of the lobby. The rear addition held several rooms that may have been used for offices, storage, or a boardroom.

Following the closure of the bank the building was used as a barbershop (pre-ca. 1950) and a post office (ca. 1950 - 1981). Because the building has no central heating, wood/coal stoves located in each section of the building originally provided heat. These have been replaced with more modern units. Little or no evidence survives of the building's use as a barbershop or post office and only the vault remains from the building's days as a bank. Other alterations previously noted include the replacement of the front window, removal of the awning, replacement of the south door, and the addition of a concrete block chimney along the south wall. Any other changes to the building are a result of deterioration during its period of vacancy.

A major rehabilitation of the Burr Oak Savings Bank is planned for 2001 with the conversion of the building to a visitor's center to be used in conjunction with the operation of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum located approximately 100 feet away. The project will involve a new HVAC system, plumbing, electrical work, and new finishes on the interior. Exterior work will include masonry repairs and tuckpointing, a new roof, and replacement windows and doors.