William Waters designed a good number of bank buildings and was not afraid to use a design over again if it worked well. Early in 1895 W. H. Spengler of Medina commissioned Mr. Waters to prepare plans for a new bank to be located in Hortonville. The bank held a state charter and W. H. Spengler was to be the cashier, while his son W. J. Spengler would serve as teller and bookkeeper.
A few years earlier in 1887 the architect Waters had planned
the First National Bank of Menasha. The
building was acclaimed as an architectural ornament of the city. The Hortonville bank was not as ornate as
it’s Menasha predecessor but shared the same fenestration on the front
elevation and floor plan. Henry
Schneider an Appleton contractor won the bid to erect the new bank, and work
started in April of 1895. The building sat on a high foundation of
limestone with doors flanking a large, ached window trimmed with limestone in
the center of the first story. Above
the center window a limestone block was carved with “Bank” and above that four
windows with limestone lintels served the second floor. Beyond that was windowpane like brick work a
favorite feature of Mr. Waters at that time.
A brickwork and limestone cornice topped the front of the façade. The interior fixtures were made of cherry
wood furnished by the Robert Brandt Company of Oshkosh.
The bank opened for business in August of 1895 as a
privately held business but went public in 1902 with W. H. Spengler as chairman
of the board. The building has long
since ceased to serve as a bank and the years have taken their toll, but one
can still see the splendor that once attended the building.
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