Bankers Loan and Trust Company Building - Concordia, KS - Converted Bank Buildings on Waymarking.com

In the late 1880's Concordia was booming, as was much of the West. To Eastern bankers with more money to lend than borrowers, the west was the land where they could put that money to use. One of those men was apparently Theron B. Smith of Brandon, Vermont, who along with other bankers from the East as well as Concordia bankers. Today the physical remains of their efforts still stands at the corner of 6th and Broadway in Concordia.

The plans for the building, with a budget of $30,000, were drawn up by the same architect that designed the nearby County Courthouse, W. H. Parsons. Constructed in 1887, it could be described as a two story red brick building with a corner entrance, but that doesn't begin to do justice to what one sees when looking at the building today.

Cast iron stairs wrap around the corner entrance, glass inserts in the sidewalk extend down the side of building. Limestone columns frame the entrance, and above is an oriel window. There are ornamental cornices, friezes, arches, and more details than the eye can take in. It was the antithesis of today's slab sided boring monstrosities, or worse yet, the supermarket ATM's that banks have become.

Yet as often the case, the heydays of that time lasted but a few years, and in 1894 the building was transferred from the company to Mr. Smith. Today, much of it appears to be unoccupied, though an antique shop is located inside those corner doors.