Citizen's Bank of Maplewood, 97 Years Young

Maplewood is a walkable community.  Our downtown is centrally located so the farthest away any citizen can be is about a 10 or 15 minute walk.  One of the truly wonderful things about living in a walkable community is the fact that you can get anywhere in your car in just a couple of minutes.

I’m not sure if that has anything to do with the longevity of a number of our businesses but it can’t hurt.  Scheidt Hardware has been here since 1907, Saratoga Lanes since 1916, Empire Supply since 1931, Kalb Electric since 1909 (though it’s now for sale) and Citizen’s Bank of Maplewood since 1915.  To top that, all have been in continuous operation since they opened (I’m pretty sure).  That’s mind-blowing.

However they got there, on foot or in the car, Maplewood citizens have been able to use the bank named after them for the last 97 years.  After a meeting on Oct.8, 1915, Citizen’s Bank was organized with a capitalization of $27,500.  Wm. Stites was the first president and Jul. Holekamp was elected vice president.  Emil Scheidt was a member of the board.

According to their own material, they were the first bank in the Midwest to have a drive-up window.  They built it in 1949.  It was an interesting example of mid-century modern architecture as the photographs show.  The main building has expanded and modernized several times.

When Golde’s Department Store burned in 1966, the bank expanded into that space becoming mostly the building we recognize today.  That building reopened in 1967.

There are a lot of nice folks working at Citizen’s Bank not the least of whom is Dan Walper, the head of security who has generously allowed us access to most of these photos.  Thanks, Dan.