Still very much original, the Wasmansdorff and Eastman designed Bank Electric Block was built to house the First National Bank of Lewiston and the offices of the Montana Power Company. One of the largest buildings to line Lewistown's Main Street, the four storey flat roofed masonry structure was built by the Seerie Brothers of Denver, Colorado.
Though not extravagantly embellished, the building was given its fair share of terra cotta trim, mostly in a beltline at dividing the ground and second floors and at the cornice, plus terra cotta frames surrounding the windows of the upper four storeys. At the cornice are terra cotta panels at each corner of the building, each with a pair of classic
lion's head chimeras, the lions carrying square linked chains in their mouths. There is a total of ten of these chimeras dispersed around three sides of the building. Above, the overhanging cornice has several bands of decorated terra cotta blocks and tiles. At the roof is a low parapet of terra cotta blocks or bricks with tombstone-like decorative pieces every few feet. The parapet's corners have projecting seashell-like mouldings.
The First National Bank, organized in 1904 under the National Bank Act, was to become the "lusty offspring" of the Judith Basin Bank (est. 1899). Bankers generally sought the development of the region both as merchants and as landholders, as they remained dependent upon the farmers' prosperity, while the land agent lost interest when the transaction was completed. The interest of bankers in real estate was not simply that of normal banking operation, but that of businessmen engaged in multiple ventures. Many Lewistown bankers were not only large landholders, but were involved in private land office businesses and in organizations dedicated to promoting the dry land acres of Central Montana.
Over four million acres in public land were settled in the Lewistown district between 1900 and 1913, and Lewistown served as the commercial center for the influx of landseekers.
The First National Bank and the Montana Power Company, growing with the town, retained the services of the local firm of Wasmansdorff and Eastman to design the Bank-Electric Building. One hundred homes and at least a dozen large commercial buildings were constructed in Lewistown during 1913, and the Bank-Electric Building stands as a visible sign of the development and prosperity of the community during this period.
From the NRHP Nomination Form, Site# 177
