Digital Division
329 Division St
First National Bank Building
est. 1889
The First National Bank is one of Northfield’s key items of historical significance. Organized and chartered in 1872, the bank remained locally owned and managed for 148 years in Northfield’s downtown—a remarkable feat in a landscape increasingly dominated by buyouts, mergers, and chains.
The bank was established across the street from its longtime location. In December 1872, it opened its doors in the Scriver Building. Less than four years later, the First National overcame a hurdle that could have easily led to its bankruptcy right then and there when the James-Younger Gang came to town in 1876. Joseph Lee Heywood, the acting cashier, died protecting the money in the bank’s safe, allowing the bank to live another day. Of the $18,000 in the bank that day, the robbers walked away with mere pocket change: $26.70.
Joseph Lee Heywood, the acting cashier, died protecting the money in the bank’s safe, allowing the bank to live another day.
In 1893, the First National Bank moved into this building, which had been constructed to house drug and jewelry stores in 1889. And here it stood for over a century. Over the years, the bank saw modernization and change. It added its first adding machine, bookkeeping machine, teller machine, and computer system all between the years of 1900 and 1980. The First National eventually did end up merging with a larger Midwestern chain of banks—Merchants Bank—in 2020, which remains today, carrying on the legacy of the former establishment under a new name.
This was the first Northfield building to display weather information on its exterior, beginning with an indicator flag and later the more modern rotating screen that exists today.