First National Bank Robbed - Cody, WY
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 44° 31.570 W 109° 03.852
12T E 653823 N 4932138
On a corner lot with an angled entrance facing the intersection, this building has many of the earmarks of a vintage bank building. It happens, also, to be the site of the most notorious crime ever perpetrated in Park County.
Waymark Code: WMWVHW
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 10/17/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member TerraViators
Views: 1

The Historic District sign affixed to the building identifies it as the Walls Bank Building while the description below, from the NRHP Nomination, notes that it was built in 1920. Research would indicate that the bank was owned by Judge W. L. Walls, later a state prosecutor. A previous bank building owned by Judge Walls housed the First National Bank, which, incidentally, was robbed on November 1, 1904 by two as yet unidentified men, one of them killing cashier and part owner and founder of the bank, Ira O. Middaugh, during the attempted robbery. A gunfight ensued between the bank robbers, who left without securing any cash, and townspeople as the gunmen fled.

An exhaustive article on the event can be found at the Cody Archive.

To our knowledge, there were three banks in Cody by 1920, the First National Bank, the Stockgrowers Bank and the Shoshone National Bank, all of which were in place by 1909, at the latest. If the relationship between Judge Walls and the First National Bank continued until 1920, this building would have housed the First National Bank. The 1904 robbery of the First National Bank took place in a building at the same location (the corner of 12th Street [at that time 2nd Street] and Sheridan Avenue), so it's safe to assume that this 1920 building simply replaced the earlier building.

As, due to the nature of the website containing the Wyoming newspaper archives, it's not possible to post a working URL to the news article published by the Cody Enterprise, I've included a screenshot of the front page of the November 3, 1904 issue.

The bank, located in the Walls building, corner of Sheridan avenue and 2nd street, has an outlet on the street from this office and the big man, when be could not enter the office...
From the news article in question


Today the building is home to Sean DeNamur Designs Fine Jewelry.
1191 Sheridan Avenue Shops (1191 Sheridan Avenue): 1920: One-story flat roof; rock-faced coursed ashlar sandstone with smooth plaster at top; simple decoration at top of building; 1183 is covered with brick front and metal canopy and has modern metal-framed door; 1191 has a wooden-trimmed door which opens onto the corner of the street with transom light over door and sills and window heads over wooden trimmed windows. CONTRIBUTING
From the NRHP Nomination Form
Date of crime: 11/01/1904

Public access allowed: yes

Fee required: no

Web site: Not listed

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