Historic Photo: Citizens Bank in 1910
A 1910 photograph of the Citizens Bank captures a moment when New Glarus was growing into a prosperous dairy and commercial center — and shows how architecture, streets, utilities and nearby businesses reflected the village’s ambitions.
The Citizens Bank building at 130 Fifth Avenue looks almost new in this photograph, taken in 1910, the same year the imposing two-story brick structure was completed.
Today, the building is home to The Alpine. Over more than a century, it has also housed grocery stores, an insurance office and Roughing It in Style, among other businesses. Its first purpose, however, was announced in stone above the corner entrance: “Citizens Bank.”
The bank was built on property formerly occupied by the Schindler home. Local historical accounts indicate Mrs. Gabriel Schindler also operated a millinery business at the site, meaning the corner had a commercial history even before construction of the bank.
The new building arrived during an unusually confident period in the New Glarus economy. Dairy farms, cheese factories, merchants and other businesses were generating substantial financial activity throughout the village and surrounding countryside. That same year, the competing Bank of New Glarus also moved into a prominent new building nearby.
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