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Property Location
Property Features
7 North Brown Street Merchants State Bank and Trust
This two-story NeoClassical Revival building was erected to house Merchants Bank and Trust in 1926. Duluth architect Thomas Shefchik designed the bank, and Jacobson Brothers of Duluth were the contractors (New North, March 3, 1927, "New Bank Will Open Saturday."). This building features a tall, round-arched entry enriched with compound moldings, coursed limestone veneer with raked joints on the first story, classical window hoods on brackets, shields, and cornices enriched with dentils and a wave molding. Merchants State Bank and Trust was founded as E(dward) D(exter) Brown and Sons, bankers, in the fall of 1886 or the spring of 1887 (New North, versus Oneida County: 1887-1987, p. 37). It was incorporated as Merchants State Bank on May 5, 1890 (Oneida County: 1887-1987, p. 37). Edward Dexter Brown (-1898) was born in Oneida County, New York state, and brought his family to Wisconsin in 1857, settling on the Plover River in Portage County (near Stevens Point). Brown established a sawmill there, and soon became a prominent lumberman. His sons, Anderson W. and Webster E. Brown, were founders of Rhinelander. Oneida County was named in honor of Edward Dexter Brown's birthplace (E. B. Usher, Wisconsin: Its Story and Biography: 1848-1913, VIII:2341). Officers of Merchants State Bank prior to 1930 included Webster E. Brown, Edward O. Brown, Edward D. Brown, M. H. Raymond, S. H. Alban, B. R. Lewis, Paul Browne and Henry F. Steele. In 1894, the Madison architectural firm of (Allan) Conover and (Lew) Porter designed a Romanesque Revival building for the bank on this site. It was destroyed by fire on December 21, 1925 (New North, December 24, 1925, "Fire Destroys Bank Building."). This institution is now known as M
& I Merchants Bank. The Merchants State Bank and Trust is an outstanding local example of the NeoClassical Revival style, and retains good integrity.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
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