MANDAN Historical Society

Working to Preserve & Promote Mandan's Heritage since 2004

Welcome

Membership

Activities

Ag Stn Centennial

History Harvest

TR-Coe Exhibit

WWII Exhibit

Museum & Office

Area History

Book: "Mantani"

The 1880s

Mandan Rodeo / Fair

School System History

The 1890s

The 1900s

1901 Pan Am Expo

1903 TR Visit to NDak

The 1910s

1910 Spring Flood

1911 Fair & Airplane Demo

1912 TR Whistle-Stop

The 1920s

Prohibition in Mandan

Mail Order Kit Homes

The 1930s

FDR Visit August 1936

The 1940s

The 1950s

1958 Lincoln Stamp FDC

Custer Drama / Trail West

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

1st of the 21st

2010-Present

Area Landmarks

Cary Bldg - Mandan Drug

CCC Camp Chimney

Christ the King Church

Collins Av Civic Bldg

First Lutheran Church

First National Bank Bldg

First Presbyterian Church

Great Plains Academy

Great Plains Expermt Stn

Lewis & Clark Hotel

Mandan Hill

Mandan Theatre

MV Produce Warehouse

Methodist Church

NP Beanery

NP "Colonial" RR Depot

NPRR Freighthouse

NP Rail High Bridge

Roughrider Statue

St Joseph Church

WWar Memorial Bldg

Youth Correctional Center

Gone Forever

Central School

Collins Ave Courthouse

Cummins Building

Deaconess Hospital

Eielson Field

Emerson Inst/Opera House

First St Federal Building

Havana Club

Hotel Nigey

InterOcean Hotel

Liberty Memorial Bridge

Mandan Creamery & Produce

Mandan Flour Mill

Merchants Hotel

NP "Queen Anne" Depot

Original Passenger Depot

Palace Theatre

Peoples' Hotel

Rock Haven

Topic Theatre

Young's Tavern

Heritage Homes

Altnow-Smith Home

Dunlap-Harris Home

Ellis-Uden Home

Freeburg-Esser Home

Lyon-Weigel Home

McGillic Home

Olson-Brick Home

Parkins-Cooley Home

Stutsman-Wyatt Home

Swanson-Reichman Home

Welch-Ness Home

Endowment Fund

Genealogy Links

Biographies A-C

J D Allen

Franklin Anders

Richard Baron

James Bellows

George Bingenheimer

Margaret Bingenheimer

Philip Blumenthal

Elijah Boley

Frank Briggs

Leo Broderick

William Broderick

Frank Bunting

Lyman Cary

James Clark

Henry Coe

Viola Boley Coe

Daniel Collins

Elizabeth Custer

George Custer

Biographies D-L

Alice Dahners

Henry Dahners

C E V (Charles) Draper

Esther Davis

Tony Dean

Joseph Devine

Ronald Erhardt

John Forbes

Palma Fristad

Gilbert Furness

Aloysius Galowitsch

Frederic Gerard

Zalmon Gilbert

Charles Grantier

James Hanley Jr

James Hanley Sr

Mary Harris

C Edgar Haupt

Michael Lang

William Langer

Albert Lanterman

William Lanterman

Richard Longfellow

Rolland Lutz

Hiram Lyon

Biographies M-R

George Marback

Gary Miller

Lee Mohr

Margaret Naylor

John Newton

Anton Ness

John Osterhouse

George Peoples

Arthur Peterson

Nels Romer

Hoy Russell

Walton Russell

Antonie Rybnicek

Ervin Rybnicek

Hynek Rybnicek

Biographies S-Z

Margaret Schaaf

George Shafer

Benjamin Shaw

William Simpson

Anna Knox Stark

Mary Stark

Benjamin Stephenson

J O Sullivan

John Sullivan

Era Bell Thompson

Andrew E Thorberg

Ida Thorberg

C L Timmerman

George Toman

Earle Tostevin

Edwin A Tostevin Sr

Edwin D Tostevin Jr

Walter Tostevin

Felix Vinatieri

A B Welch

Levon West

Frank Wetzstein

Harry Wheeler

Philomena Yunck

View Collections

Artifacts - Miscellanous

Newspapers

Pottery and Glass

Photos - Buildings

Photos - Downtown

Photos - Floods

Photos - People

Photos - Rail and Trains

What's New

First National Bank Building - 100 West Main St
In 1880, Mandan was a thriving village.  Michael Lang, James Bellows and Hiram Lyons strolled through the the town; felt a need; seated themselves on a pile of rock and organized a bank.

The First National Bank of Mandan was organized November 22, 1881.  A frame building situated on the same spot where the three men had sat and planned its organization on Main Street, just one door from the corner of Front Street and Stark Avenue (now Collins Avenue and Main Street) the building on the corner, also frame, was owned by the bank and was occupied by the Taylor Drug Company.

The first officers of the bank were President C. Edgar Haupt, Vice President James Bellows Cashier Hiram R. Lyons.  The entire Board of Directors consisted of Michael Lang, Le Reed, C. Edgar Haupt, Lovet Gill, James Bellows and Robert Hagar.  In 1884 Mr. Lang was made Vice President of the bank.

By 1906, deposits had increased twelve-fold and additional space was required to serve their clients.  The original wood frame buildings were moved away and the current two story brick building covering the space formerly occupied by the two buildings was constructed on the northwest corner of Main Street and Collins Avenue.

1908 Building - Click to Enlarge
1949 Main Street - Click to Enlarge
The building underwent a series of three remodeling/expansion in its lifespan. In 1911, the rear part of the building was expanded with a 46 x 12 foot two story addition.  In 1927, the rapid expansion of Mandan's commerical base prompted another major addition to the north side.  The two story addition was designed to match the original building and increased the total floor space by about 60%. 

In 1948, the exterior of the building was remodeled in the Greek Revival style.  The west half street storefront window was replaced with smaller square windows while its doorway was shifted from the east to west side and accented beneath a stone garland.  The large arched doorway and windows on the south and east side of the building were converted to a squared design.  A new ashlar (squared building stone) facade covered the arches, complete with a projecting facade (pavilion)  A fret scroll installed across the top unifies its appearance.  The words "First National Bank" engraved across the main entrance between small versions of the second-story roundels.

Click to Expand
As was common banking practice in the 1920s, banks printed their own paper currency.  Difficulty in managing counterfeit money and a need for tighter control on the money supply would force the practice to be discontinued.

In September 1963, the bank's operation moved two blocks west and one block north to 111 North Second Ave NW to its current location.  Housing 32 employees, the building was constructed at a cost of $350,000 (equivalent to $2.4 million in 2009) and was formerly the site of Remund Ford-Mercury dealership.
 
Meisner and Co. of Bismarck was the general contractor, with Sanitary Pluming and Heating of Mandan and Power Electric of Mandan we the mechanical subcontractors.  Robert  M. Leslie was President of the bank at the time.

Wells Fargo - Mandan - 2010
The bank would eventually become part of the Northwest Bancorporation, which would subseqently be absorbed into the Wells Fargo family of banks.

While the building itself is not registered on the National Register of Historic Places, the main portion of downtown roughly bounded by Main and First Streets between First Avenue NE to Fourth Avenue NW (including the Lewis and Clark Hotel) was listed in 1985 as the Mandan Commerical Historic District and included approximately 200 acres, 35 buildings, 1 object.

Original First National Bank Building 2010
The building continues to house several commercial services in the heart of the city, including law offices, a financial advisory and investment branch office, a coffee shop, occupational medical services and a physical therapy practice.  The engraved "First National Bank"  sign remains part of the structure.

The MHSoc's museum and office is located at 3827 30th Avenue NW; PO Box 1001; Mandan, ND 58554
Contact us at info@mandanhistory.org


Last Updated 03/28
/23    ©  2007-2023  Mandan Historical Society   All rights reserved