DE PERE, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the State Bank of De Pere in Brown County on the State Register of Historic Places. The building was originally constructed in 1877 and received a new pronounced façade in 1904 that highlights the Beaux Arts style.
The State Bank of De Pere is located at 127 North Broadway, Brown County, along a commercial corridor east of the Fox River in the city of De Pere. It was originally constructed in 1877 as a two-story commercial masonry building. The State Bank of De Pere purchased the building in 1902, and in 1904, constructed a large and elaborate façade. Henry Foeller, a notable architect from Green Bay, designed the façade in the Beaux-Arts style. The style features rusticated stone, a large decorative arch, smooth short columns and capped pilasters that are highlighted by both sides of a dollar coin. On the interior, the building has an interior vestibule, tile and wood flooring, marble wainscotting, crown molding and beamed ceiling.
In 1933, the successful bank moved to a larger property a few parcels south on North Broadway. During this time, the community had only a few banks that provided local residents a savings account and line of credit. The State Bank of De Pere was the only financial institution that remained in the city until the 1980s. Today, the bank building stands as one of the only examples of a high-style Beaux-Arts design in Brown County and the only one in De Pere.
The State Register is Wisconsin’s official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin’s heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.
Additional information for the State Bank of De Pere is available at: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI1801
To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: www.wisconsinhistory.org.
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit www.wisconsinhistory.org.
