| Additional Information: | The Peterman Building is significant under Criterion C as one of the few remaining large brick commercial structures remaining in Merrill.
The Ross, McCord & Company Bank, opened in 1881 in the newly constructed brick block at 920-922 E. Main Street. This private bank ceased operations by 1887, and the building was taken over by the First National Bank, a new Merrill bank, in 1887. Another private bank, the George Haywood & Son Bank functioned at 914 E. Main Street (not extant) from 1886 to 1894. Then, between 1897 and 1900 a department store, Peterman Brothers, began operation at 918-922 E. Main Street as a dryn goods store. By 1905, the city directory classified William Albert, and Robert Peterman's establishment as a general store. As a department store, Peterman Brothers offered a representative sampling of the goods Merrill's department stores carried in 1911: "clothing, dry goods, notions, shoes, ladies' and children's cloaks and dresses, rugs, carpets and floor coverings; Queensware, enamel and tinware; groceries, fruits and vegetables, flour and fee; fresh and salted meats; fish in season." The business continued operation as late as 1945. (A,B,C) |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Merrill City Directories, 1893 to 1945, located at T.B. Scott Free Library, Merrill, Wisconsin.
B. Gilkey, George L. A History of Banking at Merrill, 1952. Pamphlet located at Merrill Historical Society.
C. Centennial Edition, Merrill Daily Herald, 1947. |
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