Stockgrowers Bank, Ft. Pierre, South Dakota - South Dakota Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Built in 1903, it is one of the oldest building in Fort Pierre, SD. It originally housed a bank, hardware store, and drug store.

The current resident is Mortenson Law Office, which handles estate planning, real estate, business, and agriculture law firm. It has been operating in Fort Pierre for over twenty years.

Marker Name: The Stockgrowers Bank of Fort Pierre Marker Type: Roadside Marker Text: The National Register listed the Stockgrowers Bank and it is the single example of Romanesque Revival architecture in Fort Pierre. The building represents an interesting and well-executed adaptation of the style of the needs of the small frontier community and is the most important commercial building erected in Fort Pierre during the 20th century. The bank symbolizes the commercial development of Fort Pierre during the early 20th century as the business center for much of western South Dakota's cattle raising activity. The two-story brick building dominates the center of town. The cut sandstone foundation, polygonal corner tower with ornamental festoons, decorative brickwork and arched windows with brick keystones sets it apart. The Stockgrowers Bank quickly became the most prestigious office and business building in Fort Pierre. In addition to the bank itself, one other tenant includes the first telephone exchange in Fort Pierre. The 1860 census listed 15 people living in town. The Discovery of Gold in the Black Hills changed all that. By 1877, Fort Pierre was a boom town with 300 plus people with stores, hotels, saloons, and huge freight warehouses. So much was coming upriver by steamboat that freight was stacked up along the riverbank awaiting overland transport. On the average day five wagon trains with a total of 75 wagons filled with freight and feed would leave for the Black Hills. Charles L. Millett and his wife settled in Fort Pierre in 1890 when the Great Sioux Reservation opened to white settlement. They established squatter rights in April of that year and officially incorporated a banking enterprise at the corner of Deadwood and Main Streets, the future site of the Stockgrowers Bank. In 1903, Millett, along with Gaylord E. Sumner and James (Scotty) Philip, constructed the building and began the Stockgrowers Bank which became the business center. He also had a chain of associated banks in Midland, Philip, Kadoka, Cottonwood, and Milesville. Among the first officers of the bank Anton and Frank Fischer, originators of what was the oldest general store under continuous management in central South Dakota. Other officers included the owner of the first lumber yard in Fort Pierre Gaylord Sumner, Reverend Thomas L. Riggs, and rancher James (Scotty) Philip.

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