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Way Back When |
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“A Good Bank in a Good Town’ sys the caption adjacent to the Farmers Exchange Bank photo on its 1928 calendar. “If you wish to borrow money, if you have surplus money, we are here to advise you.” Hank Nowobielski found this old calendar in the home of Jerry Penk, located north of Thorp on STH 73. On its back, Jerry’s mother had, in Polish, documented the family’s financial progress. The Farmers Exchange Bank was located in 1928 at the corner of North Washington and West School Streets, where you will now find the Northwestern Bank. Although a strong and stately structure, according to Hank, the bank eventually changed its name to Peoples Exchange Bank and relocated to where Community Bank is now found. Once vacated by the bank, this building became an office for Thorp Finance. In this photo, readers can also see the building directly to the bank’s south, which Hank remembers as being the Polish National Alliance Hall. With a dance hall upstairs and a dining room and bar on the first level, the hall was the site of many a happy occasion, including the wedding of Hank’s brother Leon Nowobielski. Behind the bank, on North Lincoln Street, readers can view the peaks of a home located in the southeast corner of the intersection. Although no longer standing, we’d love to hear this home’s history and see any more complete photos if available. |
"Way Back When" was transcribed by Dolores Mohr Kenyon