As today, in days of yore it was the norm for bankers to choose corner lots for their banks when entering a new town, and this bank, in this town, was no exception. Not only did this afford the bank more prominence in the town, it also afforded the opportunity for architects to create attractive corner entrances for corner lot banks. As a result the mostly Romanesque Revival Carbon County Bank was given one of the more "artistic" corner entrances, recessed behind a pair of rough stone Romanesque arches resting atop two pilasters and a smooth round pillar, each with capitals suggestive of the Ionic period. All the windows on the main floor were given equal sized corbeled brick Roman arches, while two more corbeled brick Roman arches appear on two sides of the false parapet at the front of the bank.
A cursory nod to the Renaissance Revival style is given with the inclusion of partial triangular parapets surrounding these last arches. Another interesting feature would be the four tall, rough stone pilasters which extend from the sills of the upper storey windows to the parapet.
According to the NRHP nomination form the bank was built in 1899, yet was robbed by the Sundance Kid, Kid Curry and others on September 18, 1897. See the text from a plaque mounted on the bank below. The date on the plaque is actually correct, even though a date stone high on the gable end of the bank facing Broadway Avenue reads
1899, dating the bank to two years after the robbery.
It has recently come to light that the Carbon County bank was housed in the Pollard Hotel at the time of the robbery, this building's not making the scene until 1899. This would better explain reports of guests of the hotel witnessing the robbery. Built in 1893 as the Spofford Hotel, it wasn't renamed as the Pollard Hotel until 1902, meaning that the robbery would have taken place in the Spofford Hotel, directly across Broadway Avenue from the 1899 bank and the plaque.
Today there are various accounts of the robbery. One, from the book
Stories from Montana's Enduring Frontier: Exploring an Untamed Legacy, indicates that a robbery, though planned, was never carried out. From that account, it seems that the robbers got cold feet, not attempting the robbery, but were recognized by the town's Marshal, Byron St. Clair. After the "suspects" left town Sheriff John Dunn, with a posse in tow, took up the pursuit. The bandits, not knowing they were being pursued, were captured near Lavina. Even the identities of the bandits is unclear, only one, a gang member named Walt Putney, being positively identified. Though never proven, it is conjectured that the Sundance Kid and Kid Curry were two members of the gang in Red Lodge in September of 1897.
FOILED BANK ROBBERY SITE
On September 18, 1897 the Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh), Kid Curry and others of the "Wild Bunch" rode into Red Lodge after escaping from jail at Belle Fourche, S.D., and announced their intention of making an unauthorized withdrawal from the Carbon County Bank. They botched the job and Sheriff John Dunn rode off in hot pursuit. After an 80 mile chase, he and his posse captured them near Lavina. The robbers were returned to the Deadwood, S.D jail, where they again escaped.
From the plaque on the bank