The Bank of Helix

The existing bank building was built in 1914, as a replacement for an earlier wood frame bank building that existed on the same site.

The articles of incorporation were filed in 1904, with a capital stock of $25,000 (an excess of $835,000 in 2022 dollars). Incorporators were W.M. Scott, Charles McAlavy, Frank Richmond, Z.W. Lockwood, and E.L. Smith.

The Bank of Helix could boast that it survived the banking emergencies that closed thousands of banks across the country in the wake of the stock market crash of 1929. Many community members and farmers across the area conducted all of their banking activities through the Bank of Helix, including checking and savings accounts, as well as taking out loans. Many local farm expansions and consolidations were financed through the local bank. After the bank ceased operation in the 1940s, the building became the office headquarters of the Farmer’s Mutual Grain Company until the 1970s.

As the city’s oldest brick structure, the building currently serves as a private residence.