Ipswich History

 


The Ipswich Historical Society is sharing articles written by IHS students. The students visited the museum, researched and wrote about events, people and businesses in the community.

Ipswich State Bank

by Bailey Pitz

I chose the Ipswich State Bank as my topic because I wanted to learn more about how much it has changed throughout time. I researched and talked to Shirley Williams for all my information. I discovered that, before the 1930’s the only bank you could use in Ipswich, South Dakota, was a piggy bank. In the 1930’s, two banks on the corner of Main Street opened for business. One bank was called “The bank of Ipswich” and the other was “Ipswich Bank”. These two banks sat right across the street from each other, according to a previous Ipswich Tribune article. In 1932, at 10:00 A.M. the Bank of Ipswich was robbed of $21,000, $17,000 in bonds and $4,500 in cash, according to a previous Ipswich Tribune article. The president of the bank did not give the robbers what they wanted, so he was shot in the leg, stated Shirley Williams. The robbers also kidnapped an employee and took him to North Dakota. The robbers got caught four days later, and were arrested. Soon both banks went broke. On February 15, 1938, five individuals pulled their money together and opened up Ipswich State Bank, which is still thriving today, stated a previous Ipswich Tribune article.


After The Ipswich State Bank being in the same location for 40 years, the bank moved to a new constructed building on Friday, November 17, 1978. The building of the new bank took two years to complete, said Shirley Williams. New features were added in and these include a drive-up teller window and a night deposit vault according to a previous Ipswich Tribune article. The Bank is privately owned, meaning it is owned by people in the community said Shirley Williams. The Ipswich State Bank opened up with $27,000, the Bank has only ever had 78 employees. It currently has 19 directors and 5 people on the board, stated Shirley Williams. Everything in the bank is a lot more technical and everything is an image now days. Years ago, everything involving the bank was written and counted by hand stated Shirley Williams. The officers at the time of opening, were President; H.S. Crissman, Vice President; A.E. Herrboldt; and Cashier; J.F. Holdson, according to a previous Ipswich Tribune article. The Ipswich State Bank has now been open for approximately 80 years this year.

 

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