FORMER SITE OF 1st NATIONAL BANK BUILDING
(BLOCK 44: Lots 1 & 2)
When the two-story 1st National Rank of Whitefish building was erected in 1910, the Whitefish Pilot declared in a headline:
"Stability of Town Firmly Established."
The bank had been organized in 1907 with capital stock of $25,000. Its building, designed by a Kalispell architect, was constructed of brick manufactured by P J. Hoffman & Sons of Whitefish. The structure complied with a new city ordinance requiring all downtown buildings to be fireproof.
And so it remained until, ironically, the building was all but destroyed by an early-morning fire in October, 1992. By that time, it no longer housed the 1st National, which had moved into a new building a block to the west in 1974. Whitefish contractor Gary Tallman had purchased the old building and remodeled it into business condominiums. Tenants of the condominiums at the time of the fire included a law firm, a surveyor's office, a dental office and a business that fashioned false teeth.
Determining that the fire-ravaged building could not be salvaged, the law firm, Hedman, Hileman & Lacosta, bought the land from the other condo owners and built the present office building, which was designed by architect John Constenius and was constructed by Swank Enterprises of Kalispell It was completed in January 1994.
Sponsored by the
Stumptown Historical Society and the Whitefish Community Foundation
From the plaque at the building