HISTORY OF WEST CHESTER SAVINGS BANK

The West Chester Savings Bank was incorporated on March 6, 1900. The first officers of the bank were D.A. Boyer, President and R.S. Warfel, Cashier. The first directors of the bank were B.F. Tipton, J.B. Crayne, R.F. McFarlane, W.J. Mayer and E.H. Statler. On March 20, 1900, a construction contract was entered into with Frank Edgworthy to erect a two room, brick bank building in West Chester, Iowa at a cost of $1,495. Additional costs incurred were $277.85 for the lot and $600.00 for the large vault. By June 23, 1900, the new building was ready for occupancy and a director’s meeting held. On July 16, 1900, the bank opened it doors for its first day of business and the rest is history!

A very notable characteristic of the bank is that it never closed its doors in the 1930’s during the Great Depression and the Crash on Wall Street! In 1948, the controlling interest in the bank was sold to A.R. Wolf, his son Calvin C. Wolf and son-in-law John Butler. Then in 1985, the Farmers Savings Bank of Kalona purchased a controlling
interest from the major stockholders. On April 17, 1994, the bank was sold to Central
Bancshares, Inc. of Muscatine, Iowa. In 1995, the bank charter was moved to Washington where a temporary trailer bank office was leased while construction began
for a new office. The new Washington office opened for business on Monday, March
3, 1997. With the growth of the Washington office and the decline of business at West
Chester, it was no longer financially feasible to operate both offices. On April 19, 2002,
the bank facility at West Chester was closed for its last day of business – certainly a sad day in this bank’s history.

Though many changes have come and gone in the banking industry, the West Chester Savings Bank has withstood the test of times…….a bank you can count on that has been serving customers for over 102 years!!