1902 Bank Building

104 Gov. Ogelsby St., Elkhart, IL
Phone:

East < GO > West

The old bank building was home to Horsefeathers Antiques and the Wild Hare Cafe when we went by in 2015. At the Wild Hare you could even dine in the bank vault. Peter and Andrea Niehaus bought the building in the early 2000s and later bought the Little Foxes building nextdoor and connected the two with a doorway.

The old Bank building has two dates above the entrance 1902 and 1919. The first date represents when the second owners took over the bank. John Gilbert originally opened the bank in Elkhart in the late 1800s. In 1902 it became the Bank of J. F. Prather. Both the Gillet and Prather banks were private businesses. In 1919 a new state law mandated that private banks become State Banks which accounts for the 1919 date when the bank became the State Bank of Elkhart. The bank closed in 1932 during the Great Depression.

Photo(s): 2015