The Bank of Hortonville

 

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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