Guthrie National Bank

Guthrie National Bank. . Rushed to completion in the summer of 1889, the Guthrie National Bank building was the first brick structure built in what became Oklahoma Territory. It also proudly claimed many other firsts. It was located where J. W. McNeal of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, opened the McNeal-Little bank with his partner, A. W. Little, the afternoon of April 22, 1889. It became, as the Guthrie National Bank, June 14, 1890 the first national bank chartered in either of the twin territories. , As premier structure in the infant city, the building housed the "grand reception" for the visiting delegation of Congressmen in September, 1889. , Once finished, the building was crowded with tenants. Besides the bank, it housed Beadle's shoe store on the west side, “Oklahoma Farmer" newspaper and the Guthrie Club, a booster organization, shared the basement. Territorial Governor Steele in 1890 had an office on the 2nd floor for a few months, until larger quarters were available. , After consolidating and acquiring various other Guthrie banks, the parent company crowded out its tenants. It became known as the First National Bank of Guthrie in 1912. The present building replaced the first structure in 1923.