Part II

After a fire destroyed the Flanagan Block, plans to erect a new brick building were announced in the March 31, 1904, edition of the Iron Mountain Press, as follows, under the headline “The Flanagan Building: Plans Being Prepared for a Twenty Thousand Dollar Block”:

“In a recent interview with Patrick Flanagan relative to the new brick building which he will build this season at the corner of Stephenson avenue and A street, the gentleman said that the building would be modern in every detail. There will be three stores fronting Stephenson avenue, and one on A street, where Quist’s meat market is now. The rear end of the second floor will be made into a large and commodious lodge-room with ante-rooms and banquet room in connection. The balance of the second floor will be divided into offices with a large and well-lighted court in the center, which will be a great improvement over the old-time long, narrow and dark halls. There will be two wide stairways leading from the street to the second floor, one from Stephenson avenue direct to the main court and one from A street to the lodge-room. There will also be a basement under the entire building, the floors of which will be of cement, and the building is to be heated throughout with steam.

Mr. Flanagan will visit several neighboring cities and inspect their modern office buildings and then secure the services of a first-class architect to draw the plans for him. The estimated cost of the building is $20,000.”

Officials standing near the tellers’ cages in the United States National Bank in about 1923. From left were Helmer Freeman, Frank Stefani, assistant cashier; Russell J. Bath, cashier; and Cleo Meilleur, bank president. (Gene Derwinski/Dick Ferris)

This building was never constructed.

In the 1907-1908 and 1913 directories there were no listings for 425, 427, 429 or 431 S. Stephenson Ave., as the site stood vacant.

An item under “Brief News Notes” appearing in the Dec. 26, 1912, edition of the Iron Mountain Press announced:

The ice skating rink conducted by Henry Luke at the corner of Stephenson avenue and A street is becoming a popular resort. The ice is maintained in fine condition and good deportment is insisted upon.

On Oct. 21, 1920, the Iron Mountain Press noted that application was about to be made for a charter for another bank in Iron Mountain — the fourth. The three existing banks at the time were the First National Bank, the Commercial Bank and the newly formed American Security Bank.

A week later, the newspaper announced that Iron Mountain’s newest bank, organized under and in accordance with the laws of the federal government, would be known as the Iron Mountain National Bank. An application for a charter was to be filed within a few days.

On Nov. 18, 1920, a charter was issued for the Iron Mountain National Bank, and the organization was completed on Dec. 22, 1920. The Flanagan business property at the corner of South Stephenson Avenue and East A Street. was purchased for $34,500.

Excavation for the new building began on Wednesday, April 20, 1921, to determine the depth of the remaining foundation of the old Flanagan Block and the extent to which it would have to be reinforced. Local architects F.E. Parmelee & Son were in charge of the plan. Parmelee estimated construction would begin within two weeks and it would take six months to complete the building. Excavation was in progress for the basement of the National Bank Block on May 19, 1921.

Scratch face brick, chocolate in color, with Bedford stone trim was used for the two-story building which was 62 feet by 122 feet. Five brick pilasters with Doric caps and bases of Bedford stone spanned the front. There was a Bedford stone cornice across the top, and a pediment of the same material above the cornice, bearing the name of the building.

The doorway was of Bedford stone, and in a panel above it contained the motto of the institution — “The Bank of the People.” Bedford stone was also used for inset panels between the first and second floors.

By Friday, Aug. 12, 1921, the Iron Mountain Daily News reported:

“The brick and stone masons have about completed the basement and division walls of the new building of the National Bank of Iron Mountain. Some of the cut stones for the handsome front are being put in place. It is expected that the work will now progress rapidly as it will be possible to employ more men than heretofore.

The contract for the masonry has been sublet to G.A. Gustafson, the well-known Norway contractor, who is doing the work under the direction of Fred E. Parmelee & Son, the contracting architects and superintendents. The work now completed evidences the fact that the home of the National Bank of Iron Mountain will be the largest and finest business block on the Menominee range.“

On Dec. 14, 1921, an article in the Iron Mountain Daily News announced that the J.C. Penney Co. had signed a lease for the Stephenson Avenue store in the new National Bank Block. The store was to have a plate-glass front and would be 122 by 26 feet in size.

At that time plasterers were at work on the interior of the new block, applying the second layer on the walls of the second story. The woodwork was ready to be shipped as soon as the plaster was dry enough to permit its installation. The vault and safety deposit equipment were to be shipped by the York Safe Company on Dec. 15.

Despite the non-arrival of furniture, the officials of the United States National Bank of Iron Mountain moved into the new bank block on Saturday afternoon, March 18, 1922. The first business to be transacted in the new building was conducted Saturday night.

The delay in the receipt of the builders’ hardware, which had held up the opening of the offices of the second floor, had arrived and was being installed. Several of the occupants of these new offices were already moving in.

The official opening of the United States National Bank of Iron Mountain was held on Saturday, May 27, 1922. Children were received by bank officials in the afternoon from 3 to 4:30 and adults were received in the evening from 7 to 10 p.m. Souvenirs — airplanes for boys and girls and useful household articles for adults — were distributed. The Syncopated Five orchestra furnished music.

The main entrance was in the center of the building and provided access to a vestibule. To the right of this vestibule was the entrance into the bank lobby, and to the rear was the stairway leading to the basement and to the upper floor.

The bank lobby was 44 feet 7 inches by 15 feet 5 inches. The floor was of polished marble. Imported Italian marble, furnished by the St. Louis Bank Equipment & Fixture Company, was used for counters and wainscoting. The Green Bay Planing Mill Company of Green Bay, Wis., furnished the interior woodwork. Painting, staining and varnishing were done by Ernest Bond, of Iron Mountain.

Directly opposite the bank’s entrance door was the combined consultation room and cashier’s office. Four well-appointed teller’s cages to the left were occupied by Viola L. Blixt, assistant cashier, and Frank Stefani, teller, when the bank opened.

At the rear of the lobby was the door into the banking house proper. Along the north wall were the check desks, the entrance to the ladies’ “retiring room” and to the men’s toilet. Bank officials were proud of the comfortable and inviting women’s rest room which contained lavatories, writing tables, chairs and a settee for tired patrons.

A large clock with a face nearly three feet in diameter was located directly over the vault door and was illuminated at night.

The vault door, manufactured by the York Safe & Lock Co., York, Pennsylvania, consisted of six inches of solid steel and weighed about six tons. Twenty-two bolts held the door shut, and when the pressure bars were applied the vault was hermetically sealed. Access was controlled by three time locks which locked automatically, regardless of the combination. In case of a break in one or two of the locks, the third would remain operative. There was also a combination lock.

Inside the vault, back of the steel day-gate, was the safety-deposit room, which initially contained one block of 132 boxes. In the rear of this compartment and separated from it by a steel grill was the currency vault with a capacity of seven cubic feet sealed by a screw-door safe. It was protected by two manganese steel doors, one five inches thick and the other two inches thick. According to Bank President Cleo Meilleur, it was the only vault of its kind in northern Michigan.

The vault walls were of 20-inch reinforced concrete and extended up from the cellar, where a record vault was located. The space above the top of the vault was utilized for a small office.

There were two store rooms in the rear of the National Bank Block on East A Street, one measuring 27 feet in width and the other 21 feet 8 inches. Both were 47 feet long. A storage room was located in the rear of the wider store. Andrew Rian, who conducted a large general store at Felch, had leased the west store facing on East A Street. Olaf Rian would have charge of this store, selling clothing and gents’ furnishing goods. Jerry Thibert, of Ishpeming, had leased the east store facing on East A Street, conducting a “cash and carry” grocery store.

On the second floor, in addition to the 17 office suites of two rooms each, lavatories for men and women were provided. The office suites were so arranged that, while they connected, either could be entered or left without passing through the other. In addition to the main stairway back of the front entrance, a second stairway was constructed on East A Street, giving access to the second floor and the basement.

Occupants of the offices and suites on the second floor when the bank opened included three attorneys: Chester A. Knight, Ray A. MacAllister and Daniel J. O’Hara; four physicians: Dr. S. Edwin Cruse and Dr. Joseph Addison Crowell, Dr. Leslie E. Coffin and Dr. George Belheumer; one dentist, Dr. Dona J. Cote; an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr. C.W. Walker; a real estate dealer, M.E. Richards; and a manicurist, Miss Mary Harvey.

In the basement, an Ideal steam heating plant was installed together with equipment for furnishing running hot water.

A ladies’ bowling alley was located next to the furnace room and another room twice as large for the men’s alley was adjacent. The billiard room and barber shop were located in the front portion of the basement.

By mid-March 1922, equipment for the bowling alley and billiard parlor operated by The Recreation Company of Iron Mountain was being installed. The basement floor, measuring 60 by 120 feet, was covered by a cork carpet flooring.

Six tournament alleys were installed, four being laid in the north part of the building and two in the south, separated by a partition. The two alleys in the south part were used for private bowling parties and ladies’ groups. The alleys were equipped with new improved pin setting machines and had noiseless returns in the centers.

Instead of the usual sectional alleys commonly used in the area, the bowling alleys were built piece by piece of select tongue and grooved yellow pine, making one continuous bowling surface.

Leather settees were located at the end of the runways to accommodate the bowlers. All balls were molded mineralite of assorted weights except those intended for the ladies which were black in order to be more easily distinguished. Folding opera style mahogany-finished seats were located behind the alleys, each row elevated 4 inches above the preceding one to assure a clear view of the alleys.

The front part of the room contained candy and cigar cases as well as refreshment counters and ice cream cases. Tables with white sanitary tops with matching chairs were also located in this area. The southwest part of the basement housed the billiard room, with a barber shop at the southeast end, separated from the billiard room by a partition. There were three pocket billiard tables and one carom billiard table, all finished in mahogany, purchased from the Brunswick-Balke-Company.

E.L. “Hans” Danielson was in charge with Frank “Pinky” Pollard serving as his assistant. A lady attendant was in charge of the candy and ice cream cases. By 1925 Richard P. James was the manager of The Recreation Company.

By 1939, Peter Tomassoni managed the Recreation Bowling Alley at 104 W. Ludington St.

According to the 1925 city directory, the following individuals, businesses and organizations were located in National Bank Block: United States National Bank (Charles Meilleur, president; Charles Parent and O.H. Milliman, vice-presidents; Russell J. Bath, cashier; Frank Stefani, assistant cashier); J.C. Penny Company, men’s furnishing goods and ready-to-wear, Fred S. Harmon, manager; James C. Knight, lawyer; Daniel J. O’Hara, lawyer; John S. O’Hara, dentist; Harold V. Malin, dentist; Leo O. Finch, dentist; Dora J. Cote, dentist; Ray E. MacAllister, lawyer; Elizabeth M. Twombly, dressmaker; Dr. J. Addison Crowell, Dr. George W. Belhumeur and Dr. Leslie E. Coffin, physicians; Dr. S. Edwin Cruse, physician; Dr. C.W. Walker, physician, eye, ears, nose and throat, glasses fitted; Dr. Lloyd J. Straub, dentist; Derham & Derham (Ray Derham, Roy R. Derham), lawyers; The Recreation Company, billiards, Richard P. James, basement.

The United States National Bank closed on May 23, 1932, passing into receivership during the Depression.

End Part II