First State Bank
Diagonal’s first bank was located in one of the many little wooden
buildings along
Mr. E. Dufur of Lorimor
bought the bank in 1908. The bank was
reorganized as National Bank. Mr. D.V.
Ferris of Lamoni was the new cashier.
Fire destroyed the Opera House in December 1917, and the bank moved
temporarily across the street to the old Reed building until a new bank was
started in April 1918, and completed in August.
The building still stands today.
In September 1935, M.I. Roberts became president of the First National
Bank. The bank was changed from First
National Bank to First State Bank in November 1937. Mr. Roberts made other improvements in the
bank with the installation of theft-proof safe deposit boxes in 1948. The bank was redecorated for an open house
that was held in honor of Mr. Roberts’ 50th year in banking, having
started in Knowlton. (Up until this time
about all the owners or cashiers of the bank have been related in some way.)
In the early 1960s, Elbert “Doc” Watson, took over the ownership of the bank and continued until 1968 when Al Wissink bought
the bank from the Watson estate. The
main office is located in
Diagonal State Bank
A new bank was planned in 1915, to be called the Diagonal State
Bank. The officers were: M.C. Bailey, president; Asa
Bailey, vice president; Rolla Bailey, cashier.
A new building had already been started by Asa
and Robert Bailey just south of the large hardware on the corner. This they decided to use for the new bank.
In February 1916, they had their grand opening and the ladies attending
received a carnation.
In 1934, the Diagonal State Bank merged with the Mount Ayr State
Bank. Carson Williams, who was at the
bank at that time, also moved to
This building still stands with the lettering Diagonal State Bank,
1916, on the front.
In 1996, this building was demolished and no longer stands directly
across the street from the US Bank building, which is the building described
above in the First State Bank history.