Located in the heart of Main Street in Cedarville is the historic Cressler and Bonner Building, erected in 1885 and housed a few businesses including the Bank of Cressler and Bonner, the very first bank to be built in all of Modoc COunty. William Cressler and John Bonner are noted as two of the founders of Cedarville and were prominent businessmen in the late 1800s into the early 1900s. I located a very nice writeup on the history of this building and former bank from the Surprise Valley Chamber of Commerce website and it reads:
The Cressler and Bonner Building was completed in January 1885 after almost two years of construction. It was built for William Cressler and John Bonner by J.R. Cook. The building is 100 feet long, 64 feet high and was constructed from locally fired bricks.
The magnificent building cost $18,000 to build. The walls are 28 inches thick and there are steel shuttered doors and windows on the first floor which were manufactured in San Francisco and serve to make the building virtually fire-proof
The exterior of the building has turned posts supporting an awning and turned-wood railings, all added on in the ensuing years. An exact copy of the original Cressler-Bonner sign was recently hung. Otherwise, its exterior has remained largely unchanged over the last 120 years.
When the new building was finished, it housed a dry goods store, hardware and grocery stores, and the Bank of Cressler and Bonner.
The building featured the only operating elevator in the county for many years. The hand-cranked, cable-driven elevator is still used today by Skip Arnew, owner of the saddle shop.
The old bank space is now occupied by Floating Islands Bookstore. The original vault remains and the shop's doors and wainscoting feature a faux wood graining painted on with feathers.
The building's upstairs was once used as a lodge, a pool hall, and for dances. Today, it is an open apartment and the tenant occasionally hosts poetry readings, art shows, and special exhibits in the space.
The General Store now serves as a coffee house and cafe known as "Surprise!". Proprietor Sheila Cotton also offers wireless internet service.
I also located another website here that also gives a good historical account of this historic building. (I've bolded the excerpts noting the bank's history) and reads:
Cressler and Bonner were the founders of the town Cedarville, originally named Deep Creek. The Cressler and Bonner building constructed in 1885 is to this day the main focal point of downtown Cedarville. People travel to Cedarville just to visit and photograph this historic building. The building has had many uses over the years, a bank, saddle shop, general store, hardware store, butcher shop, cafe, bookstore, fabric store, dentist office, law office, cafe restaurant, apartments, hair salon, consignment shop. The upstairs was used as a meeting hall for the Knights of Pythias, a pool hall, dance hall, gathering place, and live work space. The upstairs has been divided into four studios / overnight units. While still waiting to be completed the infrastructure is in.
The Cressler Bonner Building was completed in January 1885, after nearly two years of construction. Located at the junction of the Lassen-Applegate Trail it was a welcome sight to the pioneers crossing the Nevada deserts.
The massive 100 x 64 foot two story brick building commissioned by William T. Cressler and John H. Bonner was built by J.R.Cook. According to the Modoc Independent, November 06,1884, Cook is quoted, “It is the finest building north of Sacramento.” Cressler and Bonner laid out the plans for the town of Cedarville and made their building the focal point. Today, as in 1885, the building still dominates Main Street and is the most magnificent building in the county.
Cook made the bricks from local materials and fired them in a nearby lime kiln just north of town. Starting in early 1884 Cook completed the magnificent structure in January 1885, at a cost of $18,000. The 100 foot Main Street frontage has five steel doors bought from San Francisco Steelworks. Each door measures 5 ½ feet by 11 feet. In addition there are three steel shuttered windows measuring 4 by 8 feet. The second floor has eight large windows distributed evenly across the face of the building. The balcony was added years later. The double brick walls have concrete rammed between them making the walls 28” thick. The combination of brick and steel construction has, as predicted in 1884, made it virtually fire proof. The elevated brick façade obscures the roof from Main Street view. The Cressler and Bonner Building is one of the few original buildings in Cedarville. Turned wood posts supporting the awning and a turned wood railing were added in the 1940s or 1950s, replacing a partial original support. Another feature added in the early 1900s was an exterior staircase on the south side of the building. The resulting roofline over the staircase is a quite unique design. The interior staircase was removed as the result of an argument between the owners of the first and second floors.
During the mid 1800s pioneers traveled westward across the United States in search of their dreams. The Lassen Applegate Trail was one of the major trails leading to the West. True to the saying, “it’s always darkest before dawn,” the settlers had to cross the arid deserts of Nevada before reaching the lush lands of Oregon and California. The first readily available water the pioneers encountered after their parched passage was in a remote area called Surprise Valley. Here the sands and sage were exchanged for gushing artesian springs, streams and tall grass.
In the late 1860s William T. Cressler and John H.Bonner operated a trading post at the junction of this trail. At this time in history it was the only trading post in the area and the men were kept busy freighting in supplies from Red Bluff, over 200 miles distant. Even today over a hundred years later, the area is considered remote. The next town to the east is 110 miles, the graveled road is one lane and nearly impassable six months of the year. Incidentally that town 110 miles distant has forty residents, the next town is another one hundred miles distant. Without these way stations and trading posts, the western expansion of our nation would have been slowed considerably and many more would have perished.
By the early 1880s Cressler and Bonner realizing the importance of their location, drew the plans for the town of Cedarville. The men were successful enough to want to build a more permanent structure to house their business and located the structure as the town’s central focal point. Commissioning the project in 1884 the contractor went to work making bricks. This building would have to withstand the ravages of time, severe weather and fire. In early 1885 upon completion of the building it was declared the most magnificent structure north of Sacramento.
Surprise Valley and Cedarville, the remote outpost on the edge of nowhere, on the road to somewhere, struggled to gain acceptance and identity within the political structure of the nation. First a part of the Utah territory, and then a part of Nevada, it being the only settlement north of Susanville a 130 miles to the south, was ultimately claimed by California. Isolated from the rest of California by the rugged snow covered Warner Mountains and from settlements in Nevada by endless miles of scorching desert the settlement grew under the guidance of Cressler and Bonner. The men, knowing the importance of good transportation and faced with the formidable mountain range to the west decided to build a road linking the community to the rest of California. John H. Bonner soon completed the road over the mountains. In later years it was paved and until the mid-1980s it was the only paved road to the community. It is still the main road into Surprise Valley and Cedarville.
With the road built and the town firmly established the men were faced with another problem being part of Siskiyou County, voters had to travel to Yreka, nearly 200 miles away, to vote. As first State Legislator from this area William Cressler felt this was an untenable situation and on February 12, 1874 introduced legislation to secede from Siskiyou County and form another county. Due to Cressler’s efforts Modoc County was formed. At this time Cressler and Bonner opened the first and only bank in the county. The men continued to build their financial empire along with the town. Bonner became the first postmaster of Cedarville, the men were active in community affairs, supporting church and schools, financially and physically.
This magnificent building still reflects the incredible spirit and accomplishments of the men through whose energies and efforts the town and county were built. Upon completion the building’s three rooms housed a dry goods store, a hardware and grocery store and the bank of Cressler and Bonner. This bank was the only bank in the county at that time. The original vault is still in place, unfortunately the hand painted steel safe door was ripped from the vault about 20 years ago and traded for a case of beer, I can only hope that it was good beer. The building also had and still has the oldest and until recently, the only elevator in Modoc County, and is still in use today. Today just as in 1885, the Cressler and Bonner Building dominates Main Street. It has the feel of the old West, the spirit of pride and true magnificence is still alive in the building today.