1902 - Bank of the Chickasaw Nation - Tishomingo, OK
N 34° 14.195 W 096° 40.870
14S E 713565 N 3790820
Built in 1902, the old Bank of the Chickasaw Nation is at 413 W Main St, Tishomingo, OK. It was later used as Tishomingo City Hall and is now a museum.
Waymark Code: WMYG99
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 06/12/2018
Views: 1
The granite block above the west entrance references
Robert Maxwell Harris, 21st governor of the Chickasaw Nation, and whose quarry provided the granite for this beautiful building. He was the bank's president, and unfortunately, he was there when the bank went bust and went through foreclosure.
The National Register of Historic Places's Nomination Form provides an overview, although the bank building has since been repurposed as a museum, and city hall and the fire department have moved elsewhere in town. It later notes the bank building's past use by fraternal organizations like the Freemasons, Order of the Eastern Star, and the Odd Fellows:
"The Chickasaw Bank was built in 1902. Granite for its construction came from the Harris Granite Quarries, located on Pennington Creek northwest of town. The two-story building was designed, constructed, and finished under the direction of J, A. Shannon, an architect who was also superintendent of the quarries.
The unusual corner entranceway and ornate tower are noted in No. 8. A somewhat less elaborate arched entrance, serving the stairway leading to the second floor, is in roughly the center of the, 25 x 140-foot structure. Only significant exterior change in the building today, from early pictures and sketches, is a large metal eagle, wings outstretched, perched atop the column in front of the corner belfry tower. No one knows what happened to the eagle.
The second floor, extensively remodeled over the years, now contains a large lodge room, kitchen and dining areas, other facilities used by several of the town's organizations. City offices occupy the front of the ground floor, while the back part serves the department."
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The museum building houses the Johnston County Historical and Genealogical Society, a research library, a Victorian tea room, a conference center, and a gift shop. It is open from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Tuesday through Saturday, and by appointment as well.