If these walls could talk: 101 N. Main Street

May 28, 2012

The State Exchange Bank, circa 1921.

For this week's installment of our ongoing series of historical "walks" through Culver's downtown, I have to resist the temptation to tell the "story" of the State Exchange Bank (today's First Farmers Bank) as an institution, and the giants who made it what it was (such as W.O. Osborn). It's a remarkable story on multiple levels, and you can read it online at the Culver Public Library's and Judi Burns' websites, and in Latham Lawson's extensive printed history, archived at the Center for Culver History on Main Street.

The State Exchange really began south of the bank's present locale at 101 N. Main, but at least by 1901 it was known simply as the Exchange Bank, at 103 S. Main, which is home today to Skyline Builders and was for years Cultice Insurance. Schuyler Shilling bought the bank operation from M.C. McCormick with resources of $20,000.

John Osborn had owned the bank prior to McCormick, having bought it as an investment, ironic given the stature John's son Will would give the bank in its heyday.

Shilling's daughter, Minnie, would wed 1905 Culver High School classmate Will Osborn in 1906, Minnie already having been a teller at the bank.

On April 11, 1907, Shilling announced plans for a $10,000, two-story brick building on the corner of Main and Jefferson Streets. In its original incarnation, the bank entrance faced the intersection at a 45-degree angle, and the second floor of the building was home to Culver's branch of the U.S. Post Office, as well as renting space to the Culver Masonic lodge. By then, W.O. Osborn was cashier and Minnie assistant cashier, though by 1912, Osborn -- then an attorney -- became full partner with his father-in-law in the bank business.

Five years later, the bank's charter with the Banking Department of the State of Indiana led to its new moniker, The State Exchange Bank of Culver.

Were this a full-blown history of the bank itself, I'd detail major points such as the fact that in 1918, the bank became the only one in Marshall County to meet every quota of World War I Liberty Loan Bonds; the dramatic 1920 robbery there, in which Culver businessman Jacob Saine was shot at his shop across the street (102 S. Main St.); and the organization of the State Exchange Finance Company in 1923.

In 1924, the bank began an enlargement by purchasing the lot to the north (while work progressed, the bank operated from the Menser Building across the street). The stately new exterior, completed in 1926, was made of Bedford limestone trimmed in maroon brick, and the main entrance shifted to face Main Street. The Barnes Construction Company -- precursor to today's Easterday Construction -- occupied space for some time on the second floor of the bank as well. By 1952, the Russell Easterday Construction Company was listed there. During that period, the floor was also home to Western Union, Bettys Beauty Shop, and the Methodist Church office (the church itself was two buildings north at that time).

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If these walls could talk: 101 N. Main Street