Banking operations continue today on State Street on the same lots used by First National Bank of St. Ignace since it was established in 1888. Both buildings were torn down and replaced with the current structure, which was completed in 1985. (Photograph courtesy of Abrams Aerial Survey, Inc.) In 1888, when the First National Bank of St. Ignace opened its doors, between 8,000 and 9,000 people lived in the town, the Martel Furnace Company operated a blast furnace near Graham's Point, the Duluth, South Shore, and Atlantic (DSS&A) railroad served the area, lumber mills were prevalent, and the city had 27 bars.

This month the bank is celebrating 120 years in business. In St. Ignace, the anniversary will be celebrated at bank offices Wednesday, May 7, with cake, door prizes, and commemorative coins given to customers. Historic documents and items will be on display. The bank began holding open houses at each of its locations May 1.

The bank was founded by the Charles Hackley family of Muskegon. Mr. Hackley, an experienced banker and lumberman, established the St. Ignace bank with fellow lumberman Otis Johnson of Mackinac Lumber Company in St. Ignace. Mr. Johnson served as the bank's first president, from 1888 until 1922. E.H. Hotchkiss was the chief executive officer of the bank, serving from 1890 to 1932.

Holding an 1888 book from the archives of First National Bank of St. Ignace Friday, May 2, is bank President Jim North. The leatherbound bank book, which contains daily statements of condition, is one of several items that will be on display at the bank's main office on State Street Wednesday, May 7, marking the bank's 120th anniversary. Alongside Mr. North is a photograph of Otis Johnson, the first president of the bank. Back then, the bank's night watchman carried a gun, an employee was hired to remove ashes from the bank's furnace, and bank records were recorded by hand in script. The bank's starting capital was about $50,000.

Today, bank President Jim North said, the capital totals $21 million. Now, like most banks, First National offers drive-through service, computerized records, and online banking.

Constructed in the late 1940s, this is the second building that housed First National Bank of St. Ignace. The building was erected on the lot to the south of the bank's original building on State Street. The current bank building is on both of the early lots. (Postcard photograph by C.C. Eby of St. Ignace.) Through the years, the bank has had three buildings, and all were built within the same State Street block. The bank shared its first building with Wilbur Drug Store. At that time the bank faced a row of icehouses across the street, which stored the ice to keep fish cold during shipment to other towns.

Prentiss M. Brown became involved with the bank in the 1920s, as an attorney and shareholder, when the city was in transition from an industrial town to a tourist town. The lumber business was fading and the Martel Furnace birmed before the turn-of-the-century. Railroads and boats were the primary employers. Mr. Brown's son, Prentiss "Moie" Brown, Jr., the bank board chairman since 1964, remembers the challenges of the 1930s.

"When the Depression hit in 1929," he said, "the bank was well managed. We did not close the doors and nobody lost anything."

A certificate from the federal government recognizing banks that stayed open during the Depression will be on display in the main office in St. Ignace Wednesday.

In the late 1940s, the bank moved next door into a new red brick building. Upstairs of the bank were offices for a dentist, doctor, and lawyer, which included Prentiss M. Brown. The telephone company moved into the old bank building, along with Dr. Lyndon Shaftoe and a grocery store.

Today's bank building was completed in 1985 on the same State Street lot, with a blockhouse appearance and bricks on the lobby floor. The building, said Mr. Brown, reflects the French and English history of the area.

Through the years, said Mr. Brown, offers have been made to purchase the bank.

"It's been the general position of the board of directors of the bank to keep it local" said Mr. Brown. "Our objective is to grow, but we want to do it on a local basis, if we can do it."

Mr. North, who has been bank president for 10 years, agrees.

"They have a duty to the shareholders to always consider those offers when they come forth," he said, "but they also have a duty to look at what's best for the organization and for the community that it serves.

"To date," he said, "there's never been a proposal that made sense all the way around."

The bank has grown, said Mr. North, by establishing branch offices and automated teller machines. In 1958 an office was opened in Cedarville, in 1966 on Mackinac Island, in 1970 in Naubinway and on St. Ignace's North State Street, in 1995 in Newberry, and in 2001 on US-2 in Moran Township near St. Ignace.

"We are always looking to expand our presence where it makes sense," said Mr. North.

First National Bank is the 12th largest employer in the county, said Mr. North, and as of May 1, the bank has 55 employees, including 41 full-time employees at seven locations and 14 officers.

The board of directors includes Mr. Brown, Vice Chairman James Brown, Second Vice Chairman Paul Brown, Secretary James North, Charles Brown, Prentiss Brown III, Paul Bush, James Chambers, R. Daniel Musser III, Jack Swope, and Frank Taylor.